Keep me, Keep you
by RiddlerShade
Summary: Onyx eyes stared straight into the barrel of a gun. She was in pain. His whole body jolted slightly when he caught her right shoulder sporting the golden crest of the Royal Knights out of the corner of his eyes.'Shit' Before his mind could process any coherent thoughts, the woman clicked the trigger in place before parting her lips. "Marry me if you want to live."
1. Marry me if you want to live!

**Hey guys! I'm back with a new story!**

 **This plot's been nagging me for some time and I HAD to write this down. I know its not much but still.. A multi-chapter Fic!**

 **Magical x AU**

 **Pairings** **: Natsu x Lucy, Gray x Juvia, Gajeel x Levy, Erza x Jellal, Mira x Laxus, Lisanna x Bixlow, Elfman x Evergreen, Romeo x Wendy.**

 **Genre** **: Romance, Action, Adventure, Hurt/Comfort, Humor, Suspense, Crime.**

* * *

 **DISCLAIMER** **: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima-sensei does. And I do not own cover image also.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER-1**

 ** _Marry me if you want to live!_**

* * *

 _Like a shadow, you crept into my life..._

* * *

"Shit! We lost him! We lost him!"

"Where the hell did he go?!"

"Hawk-69! Hawk-69! Do you read me?! Do you have a visual on SK?! I repeat, do yo-"

 _"We have eyes on SK! I repeat, we have eyes on SK! On the rooftop of the grey cathedral, west of Saint Augustus Avenue and moving! Over!"_

On a faraway rooftop, a bulky man clad in a green sleeveless T-shirt, snapped his head to the side, waving his hand rapidly to the left signaling to some of his goons clad in black riot gear, who immediately took off into that direction.

The grim-faced man spun around, lifting a black contraption to his lips.

"Copy that Hawk-69! Do not lose visual on SK! I repeat! Do _not_ lose-"

 _"Shit! We lost him! I repeat we lost him!"_

The man snarled, "Fuck! That bas-"

"Over there!"

Obsidian eyes immediately darted over to the direction where one of his men was pointing to. And there he was..

A dark figure leaping off from a tall white building fifty feet away, onto the next building.

The man snarled, "Go! Don't lose him! GO! GO! _GO_!"

The rest of the men immediately knocked the ends of their magical staffs on the ground which lit up before elongating, aiding them to leap over to the grey building across from them, before bolting off after the figure who was by now six buildings away. The cluster of buildings in the area was giving the culprit the advantage to move faster.

A feral growl escaped him, the man's sharp eyes never leaving the now retreating silhouette of the figure.

"Cannon."

The said man turned to look towards the voice.

A man clad in dark coat sheltering his black mantle bordered by silver highlights underneath, stood a little away from him, his long unkempt turquoise hair swaying lightly in the wind, "Make sure you cripple him fully this time. _With **your own** hands._"

A sinister smirk graced his lips as Cannon turned back to look at the distant bounding figure, his tongue darting out to slowly lick his dark chapped lips while eyeing his prey.

"It'll be my pleasure."

He took off, leaping onto to the next building.

Narrowed eyes watched the man's leaping figure before turning to wave his left white glove covered hand over a broken board that lay amongst a pile of rubble, at the far end of the rooftop.

The board darted towards him, stopping to levitate in front of him. His foot stopped mid-air when high-pitched beeps sounded.

Pulling out a small rectangular contraption, his glove covered finger tapped at the dot that bleeped on the white lit up screen before pressing it against his ear.

" _Dyst. I need you to bring him back **alive**. Is that clear?_ "

The man closed his narrow eyes in irritation, "You've already made this clear before."

 _"But knowing you for your 'dire tendencies', I'm forced to remind you every single time.."_

"Don't worry.", lowering his head, thin lips quirked up into a menacing smirk, "SK will be _sniveling_ at your feet before you can say 'Chairman'."

.

.

.

A heavy thump mixed with the crunch of gravel sounded as a pair of black combat boots landed, before they bolted off again, sprinting at lightning speed and leaping up into the air to land onto the next rooftop.

Sharp brown eyes darted back to get a glimpse of the pursuers clad in riot gear, four buildings away, wincing with a slight grunt when a sharp pain shot up from the right side of the rib cage, a black fingerless glove clad hand immediately shooting up to press against the wet yet profusely bleeding wound blaring through the ripped black fabric that covered it.

The pair of eyes glanced back again.

They were closing in fast.

SK diverted his attention back to the front but paled suddenly.

"Shit!"

The pair of boots skidded to a stop, as wide brown eyes stared down at the vast ground below.

There were no more buildings to jump off to.

And the ground was at least ten floors away, so jumping down freely was not an option.

 _'At least…'_

He lowered his head, removing the gloved hand pressed against the large gaping wound. Blonde brows furrowed on seeing the amount of thick blood that covered the glove and fingers.

'… _Not like this anyway..'_

Eyes darted left and right below, looking for anything that could aid in getting down, but then did a double take.

A fire escape!

But, it's rusted.

He contemplated whether or not to take it.

And it may not go all the way dow-

"Faster you fools!"

"He's got nowhere to jump now!"

"Looks like you've hit a dead end, SK!"

He snapped his head back, letting out a faint startled grunt on seeing the men about a building away, before looking back down.

 _'Well, it will have to do!'_

 _._

 _._

The men's eyes widened in horror as SK jumped off the edge of the roof, picking up their pace even faster.

"What the-!'

.

.

Left hand immediately latched onto the brown metal bars, the fire escape immediately sliding down under the sudden weight with loud creaks.

Brown eyes peered down through the blonde bangs that fluttered in front of them under sudden gush of wind, narrowing in concentration at the fast approaching ground.

"After him!"

His head snapped up to see the men swinging their legs over the roof, about to climb down the fire escape one by one, before flitting his attention back down to the ground.

' _High enough!'_

Gripping onto the rusty bars, SK leapt up from the bar he stood on before heaving down on the still sliding stairs.

And as estimated, the top of the rusty old fire escape gave away with a clang, as SK leapt off, the men who were on it immediately latching back onto the wall in reflex.

Brown eyes winced when his bloody index and middle fingers immediately came in contact with the ground, digging hard to break the slithering motion when he landed, as the rusty staircase crashed a little away with a resounding metallic clangor.

"Son of a bitch!"

Cannon let out a ferocious as he glared down at SK.

Taunting brown eyes stared back up at him, the smirk evident on his face even with the black mask covering his lips before SK stepped back, blending into the shadows that flooded the dark alley.

The large man snarled as he punched the roof ledge hard.

"Fuck!"

* * *

"Ah.. What a perfect day for an outing!"

Lips curved up as brown eyes shined brightly at the prospect of a successful group hangout, enjoying the light breeze blowing through her scarlet hai-

"You stole my meat, piss-face!"

"Why would I steal anything of _yours,_ ass-face!"

"Fuck off! Pole dancer!"

"Your pink hair or whatever that is, is an eyesore!"

A low growl escaped her before the red-head snapped around, " _Natsu! Gray! If you two ruin this hangout, I would personally castrate the both of you."_

Pink hair and raven hair immediately blended together, as the said men were reduced to hugging children, looking up at the dark faced red-head who loomed over them, "A-Aye!"

"My, my, Erza, as strict as ever..", a long white-haired mage smiled at the armored mage, as she placed a hand on her cheek.

"I will not let anyone ruin a nice outing!", Erza clenched an armor clad fist in front of her as she looked ahead with a determined face.

Mira just giggled, her hand coming up to hold back the hair that fell on her face due to the wind, "Oh, Erza, Relax a bit. Let them be.."

Erza only let out a sigh in response.

"Uwaaa! It really is a perfect day for a group hangout! Especially with the carnival going on. Ooh! I can't wait to try out all the kinds of fish they have..", a drooling blue feline floated beside Mira.

"Oh Happy.. Is there anything besides fish on your mind?", a short white-haired mage glanced up at the said feline with a sympathetic smile.

The feline scrunched up his face, placing a paw to his chin as he looked up with a hum, "Mmm… I don't think so.", he immediately shrugged.

The smiling girl sweat-dropped at the feline.

"Ne, ne Lisanna. Will there be fish prizes too at the booths?!"

The pixie-cut girl giggled at the question, "Yes, Happy. I heard that this time, they have all kinds of prizes for all kinds of contestors."

Drool immediately dribbled down his furry chin as he floated away from the girl in a dream-like state.

Now there was no waking him up..

"As long as there is booze, I'm in!", a brunette declared shamelessly, with a bottle in her already raised up hand.

"I don't think they will have those in the morning, Cana.", Lisanna smiled, shaking her head at the said grinning brunette.

"Pshh, they always have it! You'll see!"

A squeal sounded, "I can't believe Master let us off work! And that too on the day of the carnival! It's like a dream come true!"

"That's because you want to see what all books the Nomads have brought this time, Levy. Not because you want to spend time with us..", Lisanna deadpanned at the squealing girl.

The blue-haired girl jerked back startled before puffing out her cheeks, "That's _so_ not true! I had always wanted to spend time with you guys! Besides, they bring _rare_ books written by well-known scholars from other lands!"

Lisanna rolled her eyes, the smile still etched on her face.

Suddenly a lean orange-haired man popped up behind the petite girl, his face like a child on Christmas, "Levy-chan! Wanna ride the Giant Wheel together before we go back home?"

" _I'm_ gonna ride the Giant Wheel with Levy-chan!", another slim black-haired man appeared, butting his forehead with the orange-haired man.

"You bastard! If anyone's gonna ride with Levy-chan, it's me!"

"No! It's definitely me!"

Levy sighed while Lisanna snorted.

Two green sleeved arms, draped on each girl's shoulder.

"As long as you two ladies are here beside me, I'm more than happy.."

Lisanna and Levy slanted their eyes in boredom before ducking down to slide his arms off their shoulders.

"Give it a rest, Loke."

The said orange-haired man pouted as his shoulders slumped.

"Bet I'm gonna win more prizes than you, Wakaba", a violet-haired man smiled smugly walking leisurely with his arms behind his head as he threw a sideways glance at his comrade.

"Eh? I doubt that..", a sandy-blonde haired man shot back, a smirk plastered on his face as he puffed on his ever-present cigar.

"Well, I for one know that a geezer like you won't be able to win even a _single_ prize.", Macao chuckled.

"Laugh all you want, but don't go crying to mommy at the end of the day after I beat your sorry ass."

"It was grateful of Master to let us all off of work. We never get a day off. At least not together.", Mira looked up thoughtfully, " I can't remember a day all of us hung out.. _together._ "

"Carnivals are manly!"

Mira giggled at her white haired brother who had his beefy arms up in victory.

Erza nodded with a hum, "You're right.. This indeed is a perfect da-"

"Cover your stomach, you moron!"

"Go jump into a pit! Flame fart!"

"I hope Erza beats your ass up and stuffs your head into it!"

"Well, I hope she smears her shit in your face!"

Everyone sweat-dropped at the two bickering men walking at the back, while Erza looked offended, "I can't help but feel that those two are dissing me.."

An adoring smile graced Lisanna's face as her blue eyes wandered over the group in front of her…

Everyone was here..

Cana, Macao, Wakaba, Jet, Droy, Levy, Alzack, Bisca..

Warren, Max, Laki, Reedus, Vjeeter, Nab..

Her sister and brother, Loke, Erza, Grey, Happy..

And then there was Natsu..

A light blush adorned her face..

This was more than she could ask for..

"Oh, look! We're here!"

Levy's declaration had everyone turning their heads forward.

Lo and behold.

The carnival they've all been dying to attend for a long time.

The buzzing crowd, the music from the ongoing carousel, the laughing children, smell of food and of course the Giant wheel.

Each and every booth or spectacle beyond the makeshift archway of the carnival had the group staring at the scene like drooling children lined up outside the display case of a toy store.

Regaining her senses, Erza cleared her throat, a dominating aura emanating from her, "Listen up, people! We-"

"Bet ya can't beat me at the games, stripper!"

"I'll make you cry like a baby, flame-fart!"

"I'll make you wet your pants, pole-dancer!"

"You'll lose like a sissy!"

The men bolted off inside, leaving the group in a cloud of dust, their childish squabble audible over the hubbub of the carnival.

"Sometimes I can't help but see them as children living inside overgrown men's bodies..", Lisanna sighed.

" _Outrageous.."_

Everyone jolted at the venomous voice, before slowly craning their heads sideways to look at their Titania, whose brown eyes were turned into slits, her metal glove covered hands fisted at her sides.

" _When they come back, I'll teach them a thing or two about group hangouts!"_

The group only stared at Erza, not uttering a word in fear of riling her up.

Thankfully, Mira broke the fearful silence, as she sauntered to the front of the group, placing a hand on the red-head's shoulder to calm her down, "Now, now Erza. We are supposed to have fun. So let them be, ok?"

Turning to face the group, a smile graced her face, "Well, let's split into groups. I hope everyone has their lacrima phones with you. So call if anyone is in trouble. We'll meet back here at sunset. Sounds good?"

The group murmured their agreement.

"Oh! And one more thing."

Blue eyes scanned the group she called family as Mira smiled widely, "Have fun, ne?"

Fists shot up into the air as the guild members hollered.

"Yeah!"

.

.

.

.

"Take this!"

A flame covered ball shot through the air, breaking a green bottle placed on a long table.

Pink hair glistened in the sun as the man threw a challenging grin to the man next to him, "Ha! Beat that! Pole dancer!"

The raven-haired man chuckled cockily before facing forwards, "Well, I can do better than _that_!"

An ice coated ball hurtled towards a yellow bottle on a table placed parallel to the previous one.

"Take that, flame-ass!"

Alternately, flame and ice coated balls shot through the air, shattering the bottles at a breath's interval, the two men grinning like maniacs throwing insults at each other while the owner of the booth hid under his counter, praying for his dear life.

A pair of dings were heard indicating the winners.

"What the- Not again! How can we _both_ be winners!"

"Yeah! I'm better than flame-brain!"

"What didja say ya stripper?!"

"That I'm-"

" _Hello boys.."_

"Eek!"

"E-Erza-a!"

The shivering boys clung onto each for their lives, their hairs standing up all over their body as they stared up at the looming red-head in fear.

" _I hope you aren't causing any trouble for the poor gentleman over here..",_ the woman gestured over to the shivering booth owner who just peeked his head from the counter to see the new visitor.

The red-head bowed at the man, "I apologize for the trouble they've caused. They're really _very_ sorry. _Aren't you, boys?_ ", she glanced to her side.

"Y-Y-Yes! We are really very sorry!"

"Y-Yes! Very sorry!"

The red-head nodded in satisfaction, collecting the prizes laid on the counter table, before turning back to walk towards the shivering duo.

A small smile played across her lips, " _Buy me cake, and I'll forget all about you two running out on me.._ "

The still hugging boys forced down a gulp before nodding vigorously, one word running through their heads.

' _S-Scar-ry!_ '

.

.

.

"Natchuuuu!"

The said man glanced around to look towards the source to be met with a wailing Happy floating towards them.

"Happy!"

"How could you leave me behind, Natsu! I was all alone. I was lucky that Lisanna found me when she did and bought me fish."

The crying Exceed landed on the pink-haired man's head.

"Happy.."

The feline peered down at the man with a questioning hum.

Natsu scrunched up his brows as he looked up at his partner, "Where is Lisanna?"

The feline perked up at her name, "Eh? She's right… there.. Aah!", the feline screeched before soaring up, his face mortified, "I left her behind!", the feline started to wail again.

"Happy! There you are!"

The group turned to look at the white haired girl pushing her way through the crowd towards them.

"Oh! You found Natsu! And Gray! Oh! Erza, there you are!"

"Lisanna! I'm so sorry!", the wailing feline floated towards the girl who in turn smiled, "It's okay, Happy. Figured you found Natsu when I found you missing."

"Lisanna. I thought you were with Mira and Elfman.", Erza put on a serious face.

"Oh!", the girl rubbed a hand behind her head as she smiled sheepishly, a faint blush coating her cheeks, "Well, I kinda.. lost them. Eheheh.."

"Well, good thing you found us..", the red-head nodded, before turning back to munch on her cake which was in a large open box in her hand.

"Oh! I didn't know there were dessert stands here..", Lisanna warily eyed the huge box as she sweat-dropped.

"Apparently, Erza found one before she found us and dragged us over here", Natsu grimaced.

"It was luck that I found it!", Erza gleamed at Lisanna.

"Yeah.. Luck..", Gray repeated sarcastically.

"Do you want some Lisanna?", Erza turned to enquire the girl before snapping her head back to glare at the men, "Natsu! Gray! Go get one for Lisanna!"

"No! It's fine!", Lisanna butted in, stopping the shivering boys who were about to carry out the red-head's orders.

The men let out a relived sigh as their shoulders relaxed.

"Fancy seeing you at a cake booth.", the group except for the red-head turned around to see Macao, Wakaba and Cana walking towards them.

The trio's eyes landed on Titania as Cana continued, "On second thought, never mind."

"Here to ride the Giant Wheel?", Grey asked the trio.

"Yup! We got bored with other stuff and decided to hit the Giant Wheel. Thought to wait for you guys at the sake booth over there.", Macao jerked his thumb over the said booth a little ways from them.

Gray frowned, "Wha- Isn't it a bit too early fo-"

"It's almost sunset.", Cana stared at Gray with a bored look as she jerked her thumb behind.

And true to her words, the orange-yellow sun blared at them, peeking through the bars of the Giant Wheel that rotated at a slow pace.

Gray's jaw fell.

"Just how long have we been playing..", Gray muttered before looking at Natsu with wide eyes.

Natsu was in the least bothered, a bored look on his face with his arms crossed across his chest, "Mweh. Who cares. The only thing that matters is..", his lips quirked into a proud grin, "I won more prizes than you!"

Gray jumped, "What?! _I_ got more prizes than you!"

"No way, Ice Princess! I beat ya!"

"Let's settle this once and for all Flame-Head!"

Out of nowhere, both of them pulled out a large brown sack each and opened it, pulling out the prizes one by one, counting them.

The group sweat-dropped at the two men-turned-children go on and on, not wasting a breath, with toothy grins decorating their faces as they counted the spoils that now started to pile up behind them.

Lisanna continued to stare at the red-head with wide blue eyes, "Erza, won't you get a stomach ache?"

"Plus, won't you gain weight after eating that much cake?"

Lisanna snapped her head toward the new voice, "Mira-nee! Elf-niichan!"

A proud smirk tugged at her lips as Erza glanced at the two women, "A requip mage never gains weight."

A breeze whistled over the silent group as they stared blankly at the red-head who continued munching away, ignorant of the awkwardness she had created.

A stern look crossed her face as Mira turned to face her younger sister, "I tried calling your phone, but it goes straight to Voice Archives. You didn't charge it again, did you?"

Lisanna jolted, immediately pulling out her phone and fiddling with device before her hand went to rub at the back of her neck as she laughed sheepishly, "Oops!"

"Aha! I counted 123!"

Everyone snapped their heads towards the boys who had their fists raised in victory with a toothy grin before they snapped out of their hysteria to glare at each other.

"How come you have the same number as me, Flame-Breath?!"

"How do I know?! You must have stolen some of mine, ya dirty stripper!"

"You a-"

"A-Ano.."

Natsu turned to look toward the voice that sounded next to him with a questioning hum.

A long-haired brunette stood behind him with a blush coating her cheeks, "Um.. could you.. um tell me where the Duo Hayride is..?"

Onyx eyes looked at the girl with a blank expression before snapping his poker face towards the raven-haired man next to him and jerking his thumb back towards the flustered girl, "Tell her where the Duo whatever is."

"Like hell would I know!", Gray snapped, before calming down and turning his attention towards her, "Sorry miss. None of us knows where it is.. Sorry.."

"T-That's alright..", the girl turned back to look at Natsu, "Thank you.. It was nice talking to you. Bye!", the girl scurried away.

"Geez!", Gray sighed, his hand ruffling through his raven locks in frustration, "Can't you take a hint you moron..?"

Natsu jumped, "The hell did ya call me, ya asshole?!"

"I called you a freakin' dense jerkface! Who else wouldn't take a hint from a girl, single and beautiful, asking for directions to a _Duo_ Hayride?! You're gonna end up a lonely old geezer in a beaten down cabin."

"Oh yeah! Well, you will end up a freakin' pole dancer in an dirty old bar!", Natsu snarled, butting heads with Gray.

"I got to agree with Gray there."

Natsu turned to glare at the person who had bothered to support his frienemy, "You lookin' for a fight bastard?!"

Macao just raised his hands up in surrender, "I'm just saying. I mean, I've never seen you ever go out with a girl. Much less look at one. If you do look at one, you merely give her a once over before pulling whoever is next to you into a fight."

"But he did go out with one or two, Macao.", Wakaba decided to cut in.

"Eh? When was that?"

"Remember that day when one girl walked up to him, while outside the guild and asked him out?"

" _She_ asked him out! There's a difference."

"But still.. And I do remember how he got nervous for a bit before accepting."

Cana decided to pitch in, "And there was this another time where he _did_ ask out a girl who had come to meet up with Master representing the Council."

Mira butted in, "But wasn't that because Gray dared him to, given the fact that both are scared of the Council?"

"Natsu is almost the opposite of Gray when it comes to dating, given Gray's playboy ways..", Max joined the group.

"Where the hell did you come from!", Macao yelled clearly startled.

"Aww.. but I like him that way.", Cana grinned, slugging an arm around Macao as she took a gulp from her bottle.

"Hanging out with Loke does have its cons..", Macao sighed as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I take offense to that!", Loke yelled, popping from behind Macao.

Ignoring Loke's outburst, Lisanna decided to voice her doubt, "But he isn't that much of a flirt, is he?"

"At least we all know, Gray won't end up single… Even if it takes time for his playboy skills to subside, I suppose..", Wakaba said thoughtfully, "Right Gray?"

No answer.

All of them turned around to see why the man hadn't responded before sweat-dropping again.

' _Oh boy..'_

There stood Natsu and a now half-naked Gray had their heads butted sideways against each other with arms crossed across their chests.

"I hope you end up living in a dung pit!"

"I hope you end up living in a bat cave!"

"Out of my face!"

"You stink!"

"You lookin' for a fight!"

"Bring it o-"

"What's going on over there?!"

The group, save Erza who cannot be bothered while munching on her cake, turned around to see two men dressed in black and violet uniforms walking towards them.

Natsu and Gray immediately jumped apart the moment their eyes caught the crests that adorned the men's left sleeves, "T-T-The C-Council!"

Lisanna scrunched up her brows, "That's odd. What are the Council Knights doing here?"

The said knights who reached the group scrutinized them, before one of them decided to open up their mouths, "We have to ask you to come with u-"

"Wait!", his partner placed an hand on his forearm, "They're from Fairy Tail.", he pointed towards the insignia that adorned Gray's right pectoral.

"Ho… Just in time.", the other man breathed out in relief.

His partner looked back at them with a troubled look, "We.. We need your help."

"What is it?", Lisanna became concerned. The Council Knights _never_ asked for help. Let alone a guild's.

"There's.. been a situation and now a group in riot gear are reported terrorizing the people here at the carnival. They identify themselves under the name of a fake Federal agency. So far, there's been no luck finding them."

"Are they that.. dangerous?", Erza who had stopped eating her cake asked, her face now serious.

The man nodded grimly with a low hum, "Last we've heard, shots have been fired at a booth north from here. People reported to be threatened and a few casualties. If this goes on, we're afraid we have to stop the carnival."

"That's outrageous!"

The men jumped at the red-head's sudden outburst while Gray and Natsu clung onto each other again.

"Don't worry. We'll help you find those perpetrators. We'll not let anyone ruin this fair!", Erza declared with her arms akimbo, the cake box now nowhere to be found.

Brown eyes shone with determination.

"You can count on Fairy Tail! Right guys?!"

"A-Aye!"

"Happy, you're coming with me."

"A-Aye.."

"Mira, take Lisanna and Elfman. Contact the others while you're at it."

Mira nodded, immediately pulling out her lacrima phone.

"I'll go right!"

Everyone jolted at the shouts, snapping towards the boys who immediately glared at each other.

"No! I'll go left!"

Both of them growled.

"I'll go _south_!"

"Stop copying me!"

"I'll never team up with the likes of you!"

" _Natsu! Gray!"_

 _"_ A-Aye!", the boys froze up standing straight and shooting a salute at the armored mage.

"Gray, you go right! Natsu! Left! Go now before I decide to punish the both you!", the red-head barked, pinching the bridge of her nose as she tried hard to keep calm.

"A-Aye siir!"

As soon as Erza gave orders and designated everyone to their places, the group dispersed, while a certain raven-haired man and pink-haired man threw a smirk at each other over their shoulders before bolting off.

"May the best man win."

* * *

A pained grunt sounded as a black figure stumbled down the cemented steps.

A bloody fingerless glove cladded hand found its way to a large dark wooden door adorned with intricate golden carvings and runes, and pushed it open with a resonating creak.

Brown eyes narrowed slightly, scanning the dimly lit area lined with the few lanterns that floated all over.

His nose tingled at the smell of incense that assaulted it, as the figure slipped inside.

The door creaked shut as SK slid down against it in exhaustion, left hand pressing onto the wound to stop the bleeding.

"You cannot be in here."

Brown eyes snapped open, landing on a bald man, bend with age, clad in an orange tunic.

"I'll be here only for some time."

The man shook his head, "You don't understand. This shrine is meant only for young couples who want to make a binding promise under the stars and the moon that rules the night. The most powerful way to do so… And anyone who enters this shrine, not for that purpose, not with their significant other, will lead a lonely life filled with despair and tragedy.. So you see, the magic is binding…"

The man's voice faded…

 _"Mama. Is star magic powerful?"_

 _"Yes baby. It is powerful. In fact, one who has the power to whisper to the stars is said to have the power to call upon the moon.."_

 _"Wow.."_

 _"Yeah, wow. And when all the stars and moon gather, souls united are powers to be reckoned."_

Brown eyes squeezed shut, before fluttering open.

The figure shook his head rapidly to shake off the sudden image and voices that flashed through his mind.

' _The hell was that..?'_

"…That's why you cannot be in here."

Brown eyes focused forward, trying to concentrate on the matter at hand.

The man continued, "You seem like a person who shouldn't live like that. One, who shouldn't be destined for such a life. I can feel it. So, I'm saying this for your own goo-"

Distant shots sounded from outside, causing the elderly man to slowly crane his head towards the door. Trudging his way towards a corner wall, he unlocked a latch to open up a window.

"Hmm. Seems like something big is going on out there. Or the Council Knights wouldn't be running about..", the man muttered to himself before remembering about the figure.

Turning back, "So I have to as- Huh?", his eyes met with the empty room, "Hmm. He must have left.", the man shrugged before trudging back to wherever he came from.

* * *

"Ooh! Food!"

The pink-haired man stumbled through the crowd, his nose up in the air following the delicious smell to wherever it led him, his mission momentarily forgotten.

Distant approaching sounds of music and chorus caught his attention.

Snapping his head, his eyes twinkled at the flickering fireworks and the advancing parade of floats coming his way.

His mouth slackened at the spectacle.

"Woah.."

Onyx eyes widened when he found himself pushed and shoved along with the crowd that followed on the sidelines, moving along with the parade.

Suddenly, distant shots sounded and his eyes widened in realization.

"Crap! Erza's gonna kill me! How could I have forgo-Waah!"

The pinkette lost his footing, falling down the few concrete steps behind him, before crashing into the closed wooden doors which opened up with a loud creak.

His head hit against a pillar hard, effectively stopping his tumble.

A pained groan escaped his lips as he tried to sit up.

Onyx eyes fluttered open, trying to adjust to the light in the room.

The sound of the creaks caught his attention, his eyes widening when he saw the large wooden doors through which he had stumbled through automatically close.

His hand came up to rub at the sore spot on the crown of his head.

' _Where the hell am-'_

A click sounded to his side…

He froze instantly, turning his head ever so slowly to the side.

His breath hitched.

Onyx eyes stared straight into the barrel of a gun..

Daring to take a chance on life, he willed his eyes to slowly lift upwards, towards the bloody fingerless glove cladded hand that held them, before moving over to the face that belonged to it.

His heart thumped loudly.

Whether out of awe or out of fear or out of sympathy.

He didn't know..

Clad in black that showed off her curves, brown eyes stared back at him with eyes narrowed in pain, filled with fierceness in them.

Blonde bangs perfectly framed her face, as the woman before him panted a little, swallowing down slightly to maintain her breath.

She was in pain.

His whole body jolted slightly when he caught her right shoulder sporting the golden crest of the Royal Knights out of the corner of his eyes.

' _Shit!'_

Before his mind could process any coherent thoughts, the woman clicked the trigger in place before parting her lips.

"Marry me if you want to live."

* * *

 **Phew!**

 **That's a wrap!**

 **Tell me how it went?**

 **Should I continue?**


	2. As do thou forever mine

**Hello everybody! Been almost a month, eh? Well, I'm back with the next chapter! But before I begin, I have to say..**

 **WOW! I never knew this story would get this many reviews. I mean, I was really shocked by the amount of reviews I was greeted with the very next day! So thank you all. I really mean it.**

 **And since that chapter was published in a hurry, I proofread it again and re-published it. Not many changes though. Just the way the scene is described- which is a little more detailed. Oh! And one more thing! I made the mistake of Droy being stout. I meant to make him slim as seen in the beginning of original FT.**

 **Without further ado, I present to you, Chapter-2.**

 **Oh! And if anyone was wondering whether Dyst and Cannon were OC's, they're not. They are the antagonists from the Fairy Tail movie- Phoenix Priestess.**

* * *

 **DISCLAIMER** **: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima sensei does.**

 **Note** **:**

 **'** ** _Lucy's Thoughts'_**

* * *

 **Chapter-2**

 ** _As do thou forever mine.._**

* * *

 _…_ _And like a thief in the night, you stole my breath away._

* * *

Music and laughter filled the night air, mixed with the chatter and clangs from the game booths that made the carnival.

All around, paper lanterns and colorful dimly-lit decorative bulbs levitated, painting the carnival with a frenzied vibe.

Clangs of metal against each other sounded as a red-headed woman walked among the chattering crowd.

Keen brown eyes drifted slowly from left to right and back again.

Everything seemed normal here.

That must mean those people must not have come through here…yet..

The pair of eyes drifted upwards, stopping on a blue feline with white wings protruding from his back, floating a few feet away from her, scouting the area as per her orders.

By the looks of it, he also hasn't found anything out of the ordinary.

Erza's shoulders relaxed visibly.

 _'_ _That's a relief.'_

She will hang around here for some more time, she decided, just to make sure they won't pass through here, before going off to scavenge for another dessert stand again.

A dejected sigh escaped her lips, longing and sadness starting to swirl inside her chest, as her eyes half-heartedly wandered over the lively folks around her.

The red-head was broken-hearted over the cake box she had ditched unconsciously in a fit of fury at the perpetrators who had dared try to ruin the spirit of the carnival..

And now, she was itching to go hunt for one, at this very moment.

God knows how hard she was trying to keep herself under control.

 _'_ _Just a little more longer..'_

She let out another sigh, willing her eyes to continue scanning the crowd..

No matter what day it is, be it a day off or a vacation, Fairy Tail will still be Fairy Tail, always finding themselves in the middle of troub-

Brown eyes did a double take, stopping on a person with his back to her, a little a ways from her.

Black and violet.

' _A Council Knight! Better go and ask him if he's found anything or heard anything from the others.'_

Brown boot-cladded foot stepped forward but stopped when she caught sight of another man behind him, conversing with him.

Black and white.

Red brows furrowed.

Where has she seen that uniform before..?

Her lips tightened into a thin line after a moment of brooding, frustration beginning to color her face.

Why the _hell_ can't she remember..?

Brown eyes caught sight of a golden crest on the man's right shoulder, blaring proudly at her.

Two swords crossing each other, the tips positioned so that they are protecting… a crown in between them.

Realization hit her, a faint gasp escaping her slightly parted lips.

That's because she _hasn't seen_ them!

They're the _Royal Knights_!

 _No one_ has ever seen them!

Not in person anyways.

What are they doing _here_ of all places?! They were supposed to be in Crocus, _within_ the palace walls, guarding the King and his family rather than be outside, in a town which was a thousand miles away.

The few number of persons who were anointed to protect their king, who took a blood oath, swearing on their lives to _never_ betray him, to never leave him. Carrying out the duties to their King and him only..

And the numerous responsibilities and the power that came along with that title..

That was what it meant to be a Royal Knight..

On par with the Council Knights.

And maybe even higher in some cases…

The pillars of trust that support and protect the King… and hence his country..

She has never seen one in person before..

Until now..

She couldn't take her eyes off the crest.

The golden mark bore by them only..

Not one person, not even a tourist, has seen one outside the _palace walls!_

Cause they're never supposed to be.

They never _had_ the reason to be.

They were where the king was..

Even when a serious threat or cases related, take place _right outside_ the palace walls, the Royal Knights will remain by the King's side, protecting him.

Well, except if there was a Class A national emergency.. one that meant a threat to the king's life.. or his rule..

One which inevitably led to a nation-wide lockdown..

But that was like…

One in a million chances..

So why are the Royal Knights here now..?

Was Fiore under attack..?

Erza unconsciously swallowed as her heart raced with unknown dread..

Just what the hell was going on?

What hasn't the Council told them..?

* * *

Humming a melodious tune, blue eyes scouted the area looking for anything unusual.

Even though it was dark now, the number of people only kept increasing.

And this ongoing parade and the crowd of spectators moving along with it, was making it only worse.

The floating lanterns and festival bulbs were not of much help either.

And so her senses were heightened to the max, on the lookout for any anomaly in the atmosphere.. be it any slightest variation in magical pressure.. to the lowest of a whimper..

She has to..

Her siblings had spread out, each going to different parts of the crowded area, doing the same thing..

Her heart beat wildly, anxiousness gripping at her nerves.

Anything can happen at any time.

So she had to look out for them too.

The loud snaps of the firecrackers from the parade on the other side of the crowd shattered what little concentration she had built up, her cerulean eyes automatically snapping towards the direction of the clangor.

Suddenly her eyes widened.

She felt a momentary variation in the magical pressure a few steps away from her.

Her head instantly snapped to her right when a dark figure whizzed past her.

Blue eyes narrowed in slight confusion when she saw no one.

It must have been her imagination..?

But, she couldn't shake it off.

Before she knew it, she was pushing her way through the crowd towards that direction, but stopped abruptly.

Her eyes locked onto a Council Knight trudging out of that corner.

Mira let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in before closing her eyes in relief, her head hanging low.

' _For a moment there, I thou-'_

Blue eyes snapped wide open, darting back towards the man.

' _Wait..'_

White brows furrowed slightly in dismay when she couldn't find him, before suspicion tugged them down even more.

Was it her.. or was that…

A dagger in his hand.. and…

Covered in...

' _Blood…?'_

The image of the Council Knight flashed through her mind again..

And was that a gash on his cheek…?

Blue eyes stayed locked on where the man was among the crowd, now colored by the flickering lights from the firecrackers, before fluttering shut.

Another breath escaped her parted lips.

Maybe the direness of the situation and her fear for her siblings' safety must have taken a toll on her mind..

' _But then-'_

"Mira-nee!"

She twirled around.

Among the midst of the cheering crowd was her younger sister searching for her.

A fond smile tugged at her lips.

As long as her family was close by..

Everything will be just fine..

She raised a hand above her, waving at the short white-haired girl to catch her attention.

"Over here, Lisanna!"

* * *

It was quiet…

In fact, it was so _so_ quiet that he could clearly hear his thumping heart…. as well as hers..?

' _Oh hell no..'_

He swallowed down the growl that bubbled up his throat.

Why the hell was _her_ heart going all haywire when _he_ was the one at gunpoint?!

He gritted his teeth.

This was all very annoying.

Maybe she is like those girls…

But on a higher level, of course..

 _'_ _Marry me if you want to live.'_

He flinched slightly.

He doesn't get it. What possible motives could this girl have other than over-stalker- _ish_ tendencies?

"Look. Just because you're a Royal Knight, doesn't mean you can go around waving your gun at your idols, threatening them to marry you.", he stared at her, irritation gripping at his nerves.

Brown eyes narrowed back at him in vexation as she hissed out, " _I don't even_ _ **know**_ _your name."_

Natsu was taken aback.

No girl had spoken to him like this before.. well, if he doesn't count the ones at his guild, that is.

Onyx eyes stayed trained on brown ones, trying to figure out if this was all some kind of sick joke.

Cause if it is, then he would burn whoever was behind this, to a crisp…

 _Very slowly_..

Because all of this was aggravating him to the core.

But so far, all he could see in her eyes was pain..

Like, deep pain.

As if she was suffering from a serious injury… or injuries..

But…

His eyes roamed all over her black and white uniform.

As far as he can see, there wasn't even the slightest scratch on her..

Yet, she was panting as if she had run a marathon and her posture was slightly stooped, looking like she was fighting to stay awake.

But overall, she looked perfectly fine to him.

Her grip on the pistol was firm, her aim never wavering in the slightest.

No injuries whatsoever.

The suit she wore looked fine.. maybe too fine.. the way it hugged her tightly, the white fabric of the uniform hugging her slender neck, curving over her voluptuous chest and dipping down to her flat stomach before disappearing into the black fabric that covered the rest of her body from below her hips and the sides of her waist, perfectly fitting her body and accentuating her curves. Combine that with the high ponytail she wore and the black coat she donned.

She looked..

' _Hot!'_

Onyx eyes suddenly widened.

' _What. The hell.'_

What was up with him, suddenly ogling a girl like that out of nowhere..

Especially when the said girl happened to have him at _gunpoint_!

He paused, ' _Wait.'_

Onyx eyes suddenly did a double take, snapping towards her fingerless gloved hand that wielded the gun.

' _Where's the blood..'_

That covered her hand..?

He was so sure he saw blood.

Like fingers drenched in blood..

Or was it more like.. bleeding blood..?

He inwardly shook his head. Whatever it be, he was sure he saw blood.

Or was his mind playing tricks on him..?

His brows furrowed slightly in frustration.

But..

Her eyes..

Beautiful and alluring as they were..

All he could see in them were pain, betrayal, loneliness..

They held so many things..

Seen so many things..

Things they shouldn't have, in the small life she had so far lived..

As if-

' _Ugh!'_

He inwardly shook himself.

He didn't care.

He didn't want to.

He is not going to get involved in another person's life again..

Especially of a person who is threatening to kill him..

Holding her gaze, he steeled his nerves, "Look. I don't want any trouble. Let's just walk our separate ways and forget that this ever happened, hmm?"

The barrel never moved as she spoke, "How about I don't arrest you for unauthorized possession of a Lost Origin and you marry me?"

Natsu's heart lurched painfully, "W-What are you talking about?", he cursed inwardly for stuttering.

Stern brown eyes stood fixated on him as she answered, "I'm talking about the Crimson Fire you have, hiding under that scarf of yours."

His breath hitched in his throat, his right hand immediately shooting up towards the scaly white scarf wrapped around his neck, tugging them down a little as onyx eyes narrowed slightly in intimidation at the pair of caramel eyes that twinkled under the shimmer of red that elicited from under the fabric.

He felt his hope starting to drain away.

Just when he thought that the situation couldn't get any worse.

But he got to give it to her.

She was one _hell_ of an observer..

None of the guild members, not even Erza or Gray, not even _Happy_ who's been living with him from the day he was born, has ever found out about it.

 _Ever._

He let out a shaky breath, preparing himself as he stared up at the blonde with all the courage he could muster, "It belongs to my family."

The blonde raised a brow, her black pistol still pointed at his head, "So I presume it was passed down to you..?"

His heart squeezed a little, as his voice came out slightly low, "No.."

Her voice was stern, "Then it's a theft of a priceless gem and that too, one which should be handed over to the Royal family to be sealed in its rightful place."

"It's not theirs to own! It's supposed to be my family's heirloom!"

His outburst didn't faze the blonde even the slightest, "It is still unauthorized possession, no matter how you look at it."

Natsu stayed silent as he glared up at her.

He was now starting to hate this woman. Who would threaten a guy to marry them like this?!

But then..

If Master or the others, especially Erza.. If they find out that he stole from the King..

Then they would be looking at a lifetime of imprisonment…

Paying for _his_ crimes…

And the guild. His home.. It would be disbanded forever. For housing a criminal like him.

And she had the power to do just that. No questions asked.

All because of him.

And she can even kill him right here, if she chose to, or send him to prison.

For stealing one of the invaluable gems that holds the key to the very existence of magic.

His jaws clenched.

' _No..'_

He would pay for the crimes that _he_ committed.

Not anyone else.

Only him.

And if he was the one who got himself into this.. he would be the one to get out of it too..

He let out a breath, trying to calm his nerves.

He will find a way out of this.. no matter what..

Even if that meant he had to…

He swallowed.

' _..marry her..'_

He will find a way to try and convince her..

And if it doesn't work out..

His heart squeezed painfully in his chest, a painful lump beginning to form in his throat.

The hand on his scarf tightened.

If he has to give up the one thing that..

No..

It took him years to find it..

All for..

He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath to calm his raging mind, before letting it out through his nostrils.

' _It's not like it's the end of the world..'_

Onyx eyes snapped open, hard core determination swirling in them.

Well, he is not going to give up the gem _that_ easily.

The woman sounded like the marriage was going to be a temporary deal.

The kind where, she will up and leave him whenever she sees fit and _still_ charge him for thievery.

Well, she's got another thing coming, cause he was going to make it permanent!

His eyes snapped to her brown ones.

He is going to marry her!

Natsu suppressed down the smirk that painfully itched at the corners of his lips.

And he will be in _every_ second of her _every_ single waking moment of her life, until she agrees that he can keep the gem for himself.

Till then, he's never going to let her go!

His lips parted, "I-"

"Who's there…?"

The feeble voice had the pink-haired man snapping his head around to look behind him.

An old man bend with age, clad in an orange tunic was trudging towards them.

The man furrowed his brows as he looked down at Natsu, "Young man, why're you on the ground?"

Natsu immediately turned back to glare at the criminal responsible.

Only to find her missing.

A flash of yellow to his side immediately had him snapping his head towards his right.

Onyx eyes widened as his breath hitched.

' _Woah!'_

Next to him, donning a sunny yellow top cinching not too tight below her chest and flowing down freely till her hips, paired up with cream pants shorts covering half her thighs was the blonde from before, her soft eyes staring at the priest.

The very blonde who had him at gunpoint the previous second, now standing right beside him sporting an innocent look, her golden hair down and pooling around her shoulders, wearing brown combat boots, with her smooth creamy legs right beside him.

' _When the hell did she change?!'_

"Young man.."

His head snapped back again, to see the old man in front of them, still looking down at him with a slight frown.

"I am talking to you.."

"E-Eh?", his voice came out hoarse.

"I asked, why you are on the ground?"

The blonde next to him nudged him with her leg, snapping him out of his dazed state, the pink-haired man instantly scrambling to his feet to stand next to the blonde, before shooting the man a toothy grin as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Heh, I, uh, fell down.."

"Hmm.. Now..", the man straightened up a little, "What brings you two young people here to the Noctis Shrine?"

Natsu opened his mouth to answer but got cut off.

"You cannot be here unless you want to seal a Promise."

Again the pink-haired man went to open his mouth to reply only to be cut off again.

"But I must warn you two, like I warned the couple before you and that man in black too.. although, I still don't know where he went off to..", the priest looked off to the side with furrowed brows, mumbling to himself before snapping his attention back to them.

"Anyways, like I said, I have to warn you two. This shrine is not a ground for holding marriages, if that's what you two are here for. This is a sacred ground where two people make a binding promise.. a bond strong as marriage itself.. except that… you won't be man and wife, but two souls tied together by the Red String of Fate.. with the stars and their Queen, the Moon herself, bearing witness to the creation of the one and most powerful magic..."

 _Again,_ Natsu went to answer him but the priest was too fast, eliciting a growl from the pink-haired man.

"But beware..", the priest's face turned grim, " _If_ in future, the bond wavers within one of you, breaking the link is child's play, yet it will be harmful to the one who chose to do so.. Moreover, if the feelings shared by your souls are not mutual, if the two of you are not meant to be, then… then a link will _never_ be formed.. not between the two of you.. and not between the two of you separately with anyone else.. ever.. and you will end up leading a life of eternal darkness.."

There was a momentary silence before priest continued.

"So what will it be? Do you two think you are destined to be together?"

Both the pinkette and the blonde stared at the priest, dread written all over their faces while their hearts thumped wildly in their chests.

The silence grew thick as none of them breathed.

The corners of thin lips turned down slightly.

' _If I'm going down, then she's coming with me!'_

A tan hand intertwined with a pale hand.

Wide brown eyes snapped up towards the pink-haired man in shock, as he shot the priest a toothy grin.

"Hell yeah! We wanna keep each other!"

* * *

Black shoes dragged themselves across the dark cobbled path.

Sharp blue eyes shadowed by raven bangs narrowed slightly, moving slowly over the chattering crowd, examining the scene bit by bit.

Frustrated, Gray let out a tired sigh.

It was too crowded.

And the clangor from the various shooting booths all over the area was only proving to be more and more irritating.

Gray suddenly froze, a faint grunt escaping his throat.

Vibrations..

He turned around, his furrowed eyes roaming all over the area, looking for the source..

But..

They were not from the gun shots.

He stopped his movements, closing his eyes while slightly lowering his head, his sharpened ears trying to pinpoint the source.

They are coming from..

Blue eyes snapped open in shock as his head shot up towards the sky.

' _They're coming from up!'_

A chopper..?

But..

The vibrations..

They were much smoother and lighter.

Like..

His pupils narrowed, as his jaws clenched slightly.

' _Like that of an X-Crafter!'_

Why the hell are there _Crafters_ here?

And that too, over a festival?

There is no war going over here.. or..

Is there..?

His eyes narrowed in skepticism, lowering his head back forward when the vibrations drifted away, wandering aimlessly over the crowd again as various thoughts began to nag his mind.

What could have _possibly_ happened for an aircraft, ranked Class-7, to be deployed at a carnival held at a peaceful town having a population who led a peaceful and hard-earned life?

A _fighter_ craft that hasn't been out since..

Since the Cold War that happened decades ago before he was even born!

The rumored nuclear killing machine, that was forever sealed underground by the orders of His Highness who himself holds the lock codes to the facility housing the hangar, never to see light of day again.

He has seen photos and videos of it in the 'Greaser's World' website he had come across some years ago to know well enough how it looked and sounded.

So why now..?

Why is a-!

His eyes widened again.

The temperature suddenly spiked up!

' _It's here.._ '

He was _damn_ sure it wasn't the work of a certain pink-haired moron, or else he would know it..

He would _definitely_ know it.

This temperature spike..? It's definitely the work of a Crafter nearby..

He was _damn_ sure because he was too addicted to these machines that he knew them inside-out.

He looked up again.

And it's somewhere above where he was..

He could sense it by the temperature..

Even though there were no vibrations.. which was odd..

' _But where..?_ '

He was sure that the Crafters didn't have the ability go invisible… and he sure as hell haven't read about them being able to go silent..

Or have they been upgraded..?

But how can they be, since these machines are… forbidden from being used.. ever?

How ca-

" _Fall back.."_

He let out a faint grunt of surprise at the faint voice.

" _Black Butterfly…You need t…"_

His brows furrowed slightly.

It's coming from the craft!

" _Copy that.."_

He couldn't hear properly.

The vibrations must be cutting it off..

But then…

How close to ground is this freakin'thing?! For him to hear this much?!

His eyes wavered when the temperature started to decrease back down.

' _Now they're retreating..?'_

But why..?

He sharpened his ears, in an attempt to pinpoint the direction where the craft must have headed off to.

' _Damn it!'_

He lost it.

' _But…'_

Why did it retreat? Did they call off the mission, whatever it was?

Or did they accomplish it..?

' _Above all..'_

Lowering his head, his furrowed eyes drifted back down to the lanterns that floated above.

' _What was the mission..?_ '

Just what the hell is going on?

Why the hell are those.. those 'Men in Black' here in the first place..?

' _What i-!'_

His eyes snapped to his right, towards a red building, a few feet away from him when a shade of black and violet moved out of the corner of his eye.

 _'_ _A Council Knight!'_

Great! He could get some information on how the others are faring.

The corners of his lips turned down.

And maybe get something out of him about this while he is at it..

He turned to his right, about to go towards the man but stopped himself, his eyes narrowing in confusion.

Is it just him or does he look like… he is hiding something..?

Keen blue eyes stayed trained on the man walking slowly out of the dark alley, looking left and right as if…

As if to check if anyone was watching him..

As if _making sure_ that no one saw him walking out of the dark lane.

Gray's lips tightened into a thin line.

Just what in the hell was he hiding..?

Suddenly, Gray turned his head away when the knight snapped his head towards his direction, pretending to enjoy the festival.

The Council Knight walked away, seeing that no one had caught him walking out of there.

As soon as he was out of sight, Gray immediately turned around, briskly walking towards the alleyway.

' _Let's see what you were up to, eh..?'_

As soon as he turned towards the entrance of the alleyway, darkness engulfed his vision.

The raven-haired man stood there, letting his eyes adjust to the dark..

Blue eyes narrowed a little, trying to make anything out of the dark lane.

So far nothing out of the ord-

' _Wait! Is that.. smoke..?'_

His eyes narrowed even more considerably.

His right foot moved forwards, followed by his left as the raven-haired man cautiously walked towards it.

Now that he was almost inside the alley, the clamor of the people died down a little, his ears picking up soft crackles from behind the dumpster from where the smoke was billowing out from.

His nose wrinkled at the burnt stench that attacked them, his eyebrows creasing on seeing the small fire that crackled beside the large bin.

His lips slanted in disappointment.

It was just some pile of paper being burnt.

He breathed out through his nose, instantly dismissing it off.

Turning around, he walked away, lifting his hands to stuff them inside his pants pockets as he closed his eyes in boredom again.

' _Guess he wa-'_

Blue eyes snapped open again.

 _'_ _Woah… Waaait a second!'_

He walked backwards a few steps stopping in front of the fire, his brows creasing again.

In the midst of the burning embers, his eyes narrowed in on a violet and gold crest stamped onto one of the burning stationary.

The seal of the Magic Council!

His gaze shifted down, examining the stationary it was branded on.

A faint grunt of surprise escaped him.

' _It's a goddamn scroll!'_

The oldest means of marking words.

Now used in the Magic Council Archives so far, to contain cases and events that made a deep mark in the history of Fiore, mainly used because of their ability to last for ages and to hold heavy runes and spells cast on them.

And now, a pile of those are burning away without a care in the world.

Immediately kneeling down, Gray swiftly extended his right hand towards the fire while balancing himself on the balls of his feet.

His hand glowed before a white mist exuded from his palm and began to spread over the crackling flames.

The fire simmered down to embers before dying out completely.

His jaw clenched.

He was too late.

Carefully, he scooped up the remains.

That knight must have been here long enough for the parchment to burn away, or he wouldn't have found them in a state he would have barely recognized.

Parchments, especially the ones archived in the Council are _very_ hard to destroy.

He stared down at the charred remains of the parchment

He wondered how a knight was able to destroy a scroll sealed with a heavy rune.

How was he able to get his hands on a document kept in a room guarded with high-end security?

And what the hell was a Council Knight doing, burning an important document, protected by his _own_ organization?

Moreover..

What was a Council Knight doing with one anyway, when they weren't even allowed near the room?

And that too…

His lips tightened into a thin line as he stared down at the gold and violet insignia.

Going as far as to destroy it..?

Suddenly his eyes widened, dread filling them as they stared down at the remains.

Splotches of red decorated the portions unharmed by the fire.

He swallowed thickly, while his left hand fished out a brown paper bag which he was clever enough to carry with him, and carefully bagged the remains.

Getting up, he gave a once over at the dark area to make sure he hasn't missed out anything else, before making his way back to the entrance.

He hoped they were just smudges of red ink..

Or else…

He gritted his teeth.

The Council had some _serious_ explaining to do..

Loud crackles snapped the raven-haired man out of his thoughts, his head lifting up towards the source.

Blue eyes twinkled at the colorful embers that littered the night sky.

Speaking of fireworks..

' _Wonder what Flamebrain's brain found..'_

Uneasiness clouded his features as his lips thinned again.

' _Bet he can't beat what I have..'_

* * *

The blonde stared at the pink-haired man with slightly parted lips.

Just moments ago, this guy was the one who was trying to get out of this.

What made him change his mind now?

Before she knew it, she found herself being dragged along by the same tan hand that was still intertwined with hers as both of them followed the monk.

Her immediate natural instinct was to kick him where the light doesn't shine for even touching her but bit her tongue to distract herself.

"May I know your names?"

Both of them looked at the man who still had his back turned towards them as he slowly made his way towards what seemed to be another pair of large wooden doors littered with intricate engravings all over.

The pinkette licked his lips before declaring proudly, "My name is Natsu Dragneel. And this is-"

The blonde cut him off, her gentle voice echoing throughout, "Lucy.. Lucy Ashley."

He glanced at the blonde next to him.

' _Lucy, huh..?',_ the corner of his lips tugged up a little.

He liked this voice.. compared to the earlier one..

"Summer and Light.. Good. Good combination.."

The man pushed open the doors which elicited loud groans that reverberated throughout the silent dimly lit corridor of the shrine.

"Here we are."

Brown eyes and onyx eyes widened.

Humungous, rugged stone pillars surrounded them on all sides as the trio stood in an open area beautifully illuminated by the dim light of the moon.

The duo's lips parted unconsciously as their eyes roamed around slowly, taking in the lush greenery that encircled the area.

Overall the area looked like the Great Stonehenge of Ishgar.

"And you both came at the right time.."

Realization hit them as the blonde and pinkette saw that they were outside, their eyes glistening at the numerous stars that littered the night sky.

The monk tilted his head up to look at the sky, a small smile decorating his wrinkled face as he awed breathily, "Ah.. The Lunar Solstice. The one time in every two centuries marked by a long night. The night where all the stars gather to witness and celebrate the union of their queen, The Moon, and The Sun. It was on this day, The King of Fire united with his one true love, the Queen of Stars.."

 _"…_ _. and the Royal Stellar subjects and all the people of Illios and Asteria, gathered on this night, to witness the union of their King and Queen.."_

The blonde's eyes widened at the sudden gentle voice that echoed inside her head, before squinting when she found her vision blurred.

Her breaths became ragged as a painful lump throbbed at her throat.

She blinked rapidly before lowering her head a little.

 _'_ _Tears..?'_

Why the hell was she crying?

And a woman's voice..?

It felt as if it was a distant memory..?

Her lips thinned lightly.

But a memory she never remembered..?

' _But whose voice..?'_

"..That is why the moon looks golden. And the morning after, even though it's hard to notice, the sun will be bright yellow.. maybe almost white…"

She snapped out of her thoughts, lifting her head up.

With lips slightly parted, the blonde and the pinkette stared up at the golden moon, not being able to take their eyes off of it.

"And you two.."

Both of them snapped their heads to the man who was still gazing up at the starry sky.

"You two, have chosen the perfect night to vow to each other.. That's a symbol. That means, you two are destined to be together. It doesn't matter if the two of you have only met just now or have been together for a long time. If you two have chosen this night to pledge yourselves to each other, then that means your souls are intertwined.. that you two were destined to cross paths.. be it in the past, present or future..", the man smiled gently at them, "No one has ever made a bond on the night of the Lunar Solstice.", he trailed off as titled his head to the side, ' _except…',_ he shook his head to dismiss of those thoughts.

The duo didn't know what made the both of them look back, but when they did, they were met with similar pillars behind them instead of the large wooden doors through which they came.

Their eyes widened in panic.

' _Wha- Where did the shrine g-'_

"Come..", the man slowly clambered down the stone steps, making his way towards the middle of the area where a white stone basin shaped in the form a crescent moon stood erected atop a short white jagged stone pillar.

The duo numbly followed suit, before standing in front of the basin while the monk stood on the opposite side.

"This vessel is the Receptacle of the Moon's Tears. It is said that the Moon was kidnapped by Kenos, the God of Void, because of his profound jealousy towards the Sun for winning her heart, and locked her away. For years, the Sun searched for his lover only to hit dead ends.. but he never gave up because his love for the Moon was strong. And during those years, The Moon prayed to the Gods.. for the safety of her lover and for the safety of her country… praying that they may unite once again. And the tears she shed during all those years of prayers are what we see now..", he waved a hand over the basin.

"The Moon's Tears are said to be powerful, and a vow made between two people destined to be with each other, is forever binding."

Their hearts thundered in their chests as they stared down at the caldron, one word ringing through their minds.

' _Beautiful..'_

Instantly their heads snapped to look at each other in skepticism.

' _What the-'_

Did they just hear each othe-

"It is said that, if the bond between two fated souls are strong enough, then they can hear each other in thoughts… even from far away. Or as they say.. Intertwined souls.. Entwined hearts.. Connected minds.."

Both of them swallowed unconsciously.

Their mouths felt dry.

"Never thought, I would get to perform the ceremony on this day..", the monk let out a blissful sigh before looking at them, "Come, lets form the link."

The man extended his two hands towards them gesturing for their own, "You can let go of each other now.."

Both of them frowned in confusion as they looked down to see what he was saying.

Their eyes widened as heat immediately washed over them, the duo jumping apart instantly, letting go off each other's hands before hesitantly extending them to place it shakily on the monk's wrinkled ones, the blonde's on his right and the pinkette's on his left as the man stood on the opposite side, holding their hands directly over the basin.

The monk raised a brow at Natsu, "Your _right_ hand, Mr. Natsu."

The pinkette jolted slightly, "Oh! Sorry!", he placed his right hand on the man's open palm while his free hand came up to rub the back of his neck sheepishly.

Taking in a deep breath, the monk slowly closed his eyes.

The duo watched him in silence for a moment before jolting slightly when he slowly breathed out.

A light breeze blew about, eliciting whispers from the trees nearby.

The blonde and the pinkette glanced down when a single wave rippled over the surface of the water in the caldron, before their eyes flitted around them curiously, feeling the air around them starting to become chilly eliciting goosebumps all over.

Their curious eyes landed on the light spiral of dust swirling away from their feet in the form of a ring around them, widening as it slowly circled away.

" _Mr. Natsu."_

The pinkette jumped slightly, his onyx eyes snapping towards the monk who had his eyes still closed.

' _What the h-'_

 _"_ _Don't you_ _ **dare**_ _curse, young man!"_

The pinkette immediately sweated bullets on seeing the scowl that formed on the monk's face.

Slanted eyes suddenly widened in awe as he spoke in his mind, " _Woah! You can do telepathy?! You're one awesome monk, old man!_ "

" _Young man! Don't make me do anything I will regret!"_

The wrinkles on his face deepened as the man frowned a little more.

Not knowing what was going on, the blonde next to him watched the priest with caution, before confusion overtook her features on seeing Natsu panic.

" _Eep! S-Sorry! P-Please.. continue."_

The monk's face visibly relaxed and Natsu let out a breath, willing his shoulders to loosen up.

" _Now.. repeat after me. Out loud.. I."_

Natsu warily eyed the priest as he repeated out loud, startling the blonde next to him, "I."

" _Natsu Dragneel."_

"Natsu Dragneel."

" _Solely promise thee, Lucy Ashley."_

"Solely promise thee, Luigi-"

The monk frowned again, ' _Lucy.'_

A blonde brow twitched slightly in.

Even though she didn't know what was going on, that still didn't give him the right to say her name wrong!

"Luigi-"

 _"_ _ **Lucy!**_ _"_ "Lucy!"

Natsu let out another 'eep' at the voices that growled in and outside his head, as the blonde glared at him while the monk in front of him scowled with his eyes closed still, before squeaking out, "L-Lucy.."

" _Ashley."_

"Ashley."

 _"_ _That."_

 _"_ That."

" _From this day forward."_

"From this day forward."

 _"_ _I will,"_

Natsu's eyes drooped slightly in boredom, "I will,"

 _"_ _Forever honor you,"_

"Forever honor you,"

The air around them became colder.

 _"_ _Forever love you,"_

"Forever love you,"

Another breeze blew by, slightly stronger than the first one.

 _"_ _Forever trust you,"_

"Forever trust you,"

The blonde and the pinkette looked around them as they felt the wind starting swirl around them gently.

Panic started to wash over them, their breaths starting to come out ragged.

 _"_ _And forever stay by your side."_

His eyes snapped back to the monk, willing himself to repeat, his voice coming out low and slightly breathy, "And forever stay by your side."

Maybe the words were having an effect on him?

 _"_ _For better,"_

"For better,"

' _Nah…Maybe it's just…',_ his eyes darted to towards the faraway greenery billowing behind the monk and the gyrating leaves and dust that swirled around them.

…the 'creepiness' of the cold wind affecting him.

 _"_ _Or for worse."_

But why did he feel…

Heavy inside..?

As if his chest is about to explode..

His heart was pounding like crazy..

He couldn't place these.. these countless number of emotions that.. that was swirling inside of him like a wild fire..

A fire that he himself didn't know how to tame...

Like a fire different from what he's been accustomed to, slowly burning him from the inside..

Like a ' _paining' burn.._

He didn't know if it was a good pain or a bad one..

He breathed out, "Or for worse…"

His breaths came out shaky as he looked to his left at the blonde.

He felt his heart race even more..

He swallowed thickly as his eyes went back to the monk who remained still as ever, the sudden silence that settled again, gripping at his nerves.

What the hell was going on..?

Meanwhile, the blonde was trying hard to keep her eyes on the priest as the man next to her pledged his life and his supposed love to her.

Her heart was thumping heavily inside her chest..

Was this a mistake..?

Should sh-

" _Miss Lucy?"_

Brown eyes widened, looking skeptically at the priest who still had his eyes closed.

 _"_ _Who's-"_

" _Don't be afraid child… It's only me.."_

She relaxed slightly when she caught the ghost of a smile gracing the elderly man's face.

" _Now repeat after me.."_

The blonde hummed in her mind at his request.

" _I."_

"I."

Now it was Natsu's turn to jump in his place as he snapped his head towards her.

 _"_ _Lucy Ashley."_

"Lucy Ashley."

" _Solely promise thee, Natsu Dragneel."_

The corners of her lips twitched.

She had a right mind to mess up his name.

She let out a breath dismissing it off.

"Solely promise thee, Natsu Dragneel."

 _"_ _That."_

 _"_ That."

" _From this day forward."_

"From this day forward."

 _"_ _I will,"_

"I will,"

 _"_ _Forever honor you,"_

These words..

These words which should be said from the heart..

Which should be said meaningfully..

Her lips parted slightly, letting out shaky breaths.

"F-Forever honor you,"

Her jaws clenched slightly, trying to swallow the guilt and regret that formed a painful lump in her throat.

 _"_ _Forever love you,"_

She tried to swallow, her voice shaking slightly, "Forever love you,"

A breeze blew through her hair.

Brown eyes shifted ever so slightly off the monk, before widening.

Pink lips slightly parted as her breath hitched.

There, a little away behind the elder man, in front of one of the many stone pillars encircling them, stood a transparent figure.

A woman..

In flowing white dress.

Her long golden hair gracefully floating a little around her as light softly radiated off her.

The blonde's lips trembled lightly recognizing the familiar smile that graced the woman's features.

' _Mama..'_

 _"_ _Forever trust you."_

Her voice came out breathy, "F-Forever.. trust you.."

She tried to swallow the thick lump… but it was so..

It was _so hard.._.

Lucy suddenly felt so weak, just by being in the woman's presence..

Like she didn't deserve to even be in front of her..

She started to feel weak..

With quivering lips, Lucy stared at the woman, her eyes starting to well up.

 **'** ** _I'm sorry, Mama..'_**

Pink brows furrowed as Natsu watched the blonde who looked like she will faint any moment. He looked to where she was staring at, but couldn't find anything.

 ** _'_** ** _I'm so sorry..'_**

 _"_ _And forever stay by your side."_

Her breaths came out ragged, her voice lowering.

 ** _'_** ** _I know this is wrong…'_**

"A-And forever stay by your side."

Her throat started to throb painfully with the ever growing lump..

 **'** ** _I know this isn't what you wanted for me..'_**

 _"_ _For better,"_

The blonde squeezed her eyes shut, her head tilted a little to the side.

 ** _'…_** ** _but this is the only way.'_**

Her voice came out thick, "For better,"

 _"_ _Or for worse."_

Gathering up her strength, she forcefully swallowed down the throbbing pain in her throat.

Taking in a deep breath, she faced back forwards, before her brown eyes snapped open, clear and ablaze with determination as she lovingly gazed at the woman.

 ** _'_** ** _This is for you, Mama..'_**

A spark of courage shot through the blonde's nerves as the smile still remained on the woman's face before her limpid figure dissolved away with the gyrating leaves.

The blonde turned her attention back to the monk, her voice coming out bold, "Or for worse."

Everything fell silent.

It was so calm.

Even the breeze had fallen quiet.

" _Now, both of you. Face each other.."_

They followed the man's direction, turning to face each other.

Onyx eyes looked at the brown eyes staring back at him.

The air around them was so silent that they could now clearly hear each other's erratic breaths.

The eerily thick silence started to become unnerving.

They were suddenly jolted out of their thoughts when they felt their hands being shifted, their eyes trailing down to see the priest placing the blonde's frail hand into the pinkette's upturned one.

Enclosing Natsu's hand over the blonde's, the monk held them over the basin before letting go.

Onyx eyes trailed back up to see the blonde still staring down at their intertwined hands, immediately noticing her wavering eyes..

He could see that she was trying to keep calm with the way she breathed.

Natsu didn't know what came over him, but he felt like giving the blonde next to him a squeeze of comfort as he held her hand over the basin.

And he did just that as his eyes trailed back to the monk.

The gentle squeeze did the trick, as a slight shiver ran up her spine distracting the blonde who unconsciously let out a faint gasp of surprise, before directing her attention towards the pinkette beside her.

Even though he didn't look back at her, his composed features and the warmth that flowed from his palms into hers was enough to calm her down, ' _So warm..'_

Onyx eyes softened as Natsu held onto her cool hand, ' _Soft..'_

 _"_ _Now, repeat after me."_

The duo brought their attention back to the man.

 _"_ _I pledge this,"_

Both of them turned their gaze back onto each other as they repeated, "I pledge this,"

 _"…_ _with this ring I bestow upon you."_

"…with this ring I bestow upon you."

Pink brows furrowed as Natsu looked at the man in confusion, "What ring?"

The monk didn't respond as he stood there, his eyes closed still.

The blonde and the pinkette stared bewilderedly at the man before Natsu opened his mouth to ask again, "Hey-"

" ** _Armonia._** "

Their brows creased even more at the odd incantation, their mouths simultaneously opening to voice out their question.

"Wha-"

Their heads snapped towards the basin when the reflection of the golden yellow moon was disarrayed by another small wave that rippled through it.

Light wind ruffled up their hairs before brown and onyx eyes widened when two thin streams of stardust, one blue and the other white, slowly erupted out of the surface of the water, from the center of the golden moon's reflection.

They stared on as the streams simultaneously drifted up towards their intertwined hands before moving to swirl around their ring fingers, startling the both of them.

As soon as the swirls weaved in through their ring fingers, light glowed from in between their hands, the faint orange-yellow rays trickling out through gaps of their fingers.

Trepidation started to fill their thundering hearts.

But even still, they never let go, their grip on each other tightening only more, as the warmth from the light washed over them.

Curiosity overcame them as the duo took a closer step towards each other to raise their tangled hands to their eye level, oblivious to the fact that they were now interlocked till their elbows, as both stared at each other's hands.

It felt cold…

And hot as well..

Wide eyes twinkled when the light intensified momentarily, before a shimmering stream of red slithered out from between the blonde's ring and middle fingers, as did a yellow stream from the pinkette's.

Pink lips parted as Lucy stared at a helix, formed by the blue and white streams from earlier, that simultaneously slithered out from the other side of the pinkette's tan ring finger before meeting with the yellow stream halfway, and so did the red stardust from her pale ring finger as the pinkette stared with wide opened mouth as it met with a similar helix.

And as soon as they met, the conjoined streams started to swirl around their ring fingers, picking up speed.

Before they knew it, the radius of the swirls became smaller and of lighter shades, hysteria beginning to grip at their nerves when the magic emitted by the now white rings started to overwhelm their senses.

Their grip on each other tightened unconsciously, which was harder owing to the cold sweat that had started to coat their palms, when another helix of bluish white stardust appeared again out of the light between their palms, weaving in and out of their interlocked fingers before drifting down towards their wrists, while the bands around their ring fingers that illuminated their awestruck faces started to glow brighter.

The helix spilt into two, spiraling separately around their wrists before brightening when they suddenly morphed into an infinity ring linking their wrists together.

Their minds went blank when both the brightening bands started to spin uncontrollably forcing them to squeeze their eyes shut when it turned blinding.

The lights gradually died down after a moment and their eyelids fluttered open.

A faint gasp escaped them when their eyes landed on their wrists.

A white band of rune glowed softly around their wrists before dying down, leaving their wrists bare as before.

A shimmer from their interlocked hands caused them to snap their attention upwards.

Their breaths hitched.

There in place of the white band of light was a bluish silver ring, which was cold around their ring fingers.

The light that had glowed between their tangled hands was no longer there.

The duo never let go as they gazed at the rings in awe.

The silence of the atmosphere finally started to weigh upon him as onyx eyes flitted over to the blonde, "What just.."

Natsu trailed off when the trees around them abruptly started to billow about wildly under the sudden gust of wind, the whispers and creaks of the branches now louder than ever.

The wind was so strong that it was only a matter of time before the trees got uprooted.

Dust started to gyrate about, forming a spiral around them as the gale d picked up even more.

Their free hands immediately went up to shield their eyes, trying to squint through the dust to decipher the situation.

Suddenly, a magic circle appeared below them, startling them both.

The duo snapped their heads towards it, not noticing the priest walking backwards.

With hearts thundering with thick dread in their chests, caramel brown eyes and onyx eyes stared at the yellowish white circle, squinting when it glowed brightly before dying down to reveal red and yellow, the red half under the pinkette and the yellow half under the blonde.

The loud howls of the wind that filled their ears was inhibiting them from thinking up anything coherent.

Pink brows furrowed.

Amidst the wind, he could hear..

 _'_ _Whispers..'_

Who?

And it was in a language he couldn't understand..

And it was becoming eerily creepy, sending his nerves on the edge.

Not able to take it any longer, Natsu waved his free hand to conjure his fire, his eyes widening in alarm when nothing happened.

He repeated the same action over and over only to be met with the same result.

' _Why the fuck isn't my magic working?!'_

Maybe, all of this mayhem must have something to do with it.

He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on his center..

His brows creased, when he couldn't sense anything.

His eyes flew open as he clenched his free hand while gritting his teeth.

' _What the fuck!'_

 _._

 _._

 _._

Squinting through the dust, brown eyes drifted here and there trying to make out runes that littered the magic circle under their feet.

' _Ugh! I can't see!'_

Her lips thinned, ' _Guess I have no choice..'_

Her free hand went up, pressing her index and middle fingers to rest in the middle of her chest.

Suddenly the blonde froze.

' _Wha- I can't feel my magic!'_

She closed her eyes, trying to conjure her magic again.

Brown eyes squinted open.

' _Shit!'_

It was no use.

Something about this magic circle is preventing her to call forth her powers.

And what is with this.. whisper she was hearing..?

It sounded like that of a woman..

But the words..

The language sounded strange.. But familiar..?

As if it was long forgotten..?

Her breaths started to get ragged when the whispers started fill her ears.

A deep sense of foreboding gripped her nerves.

' _What the hell's going on..?'_

Her head flitted to the side, squinting through the gyrating dust to find the pinkette.

Was he facing the same problem as her..?

By the way he looked, he sure as hell was...

Turning her head, she tried to make out her surroundings..

' _No use..'_

A painful lump started to form in her throat as she turned her attention back down towards the blurry magic circle.

Her free hand fisted at her side.

She hated being helpless..

It was like that time when-

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to forget whatever thought had suddenly came to her mind.

.

.

.

Narrowed onyx eyes stared at the blonde through the dust.

It was as if he was seeing all of his emotions on her.

Confusion. Dread.

But above all, there was one thing he saw that he was sure he didn't feel.

Anger..

At herself..

Both of them forgot about the priest who stood outside the spiral, watching the events unfold.

As Natsu watched the blonde, his attention suddenly snapped towards her hand that was held in his.

It's shaking..

It was faint but he was sure about it.

A faint grunt of surprise escaped him as her hand started to slip from his hold.

His jaws clenched.

.

.

.

The howling wind, loud whispers, the dust, the magic circle..

All of them were overwhelming her senses, preventing her to think properly.

Suddenly her attention went to her hand.

She had forgotten that she was still gripping onto his.

But, now she was losing her grip.

She wanted to grip tightly onto that hand..

' _But..'_

Her eyes welled up slightly in frustration.

Who was she kidding?! Thinking that she was in the clear, when she clearly was _not_!

And she even dragged another innocent soul into whatever _this_ is.. all of which was because of her..

And to think that he would hold onto her..

She swallowed thickly.

' _Might as well give him his hand back so that he can put it some good use.. and maybe escape..'_

Steeling her nerves, she closed her eyes as she loosened her grip.

Pathetic..

The warm hand slipped away.

' _I am such a-'_

Suddenly warmth suddenly enclosed her hand.

Brown eyes snapped open, narrowing over to her hand which was firmly gripped in a tan one, the rings shining brightly, before flitting towards the pinkette in front of her.

Narrowed onyx eyes stared at her with determination.

"Don't you _dare_ let go!"

Her heart leapt into her throat as her breath hitched, ' _Why is he.. after I've threa-'_

A squeeze on her hand snapped the blonde out of her thoughts as she looked at the pinkette.

"We'll get through this together! Okay?!"

Her breath hitched as she continued staring at him.

His eyes..

How can be so brave and.. confident..?

Her brown eyes stared straight into his determined onyx ones.

 _"_ _Together."_

Resolution steeled her nerves, as blonde brows furrowed in confidence, before blonde threw a brisk nod at him with a loud hum.

.

.

.

A small smile graced his wrinkled face as the priest stared at the scene.

He nodded to himself, ' _They will find a way to each other's hearts in no time..'_

Grey eyes twinkled at the strong shimmer emitted by the rings through the spiral of dust that surrounded the pair.

.

.

.

The duo snapped their heads towards their wrists, feeling a sudden surge of warmth and energy.

Looking at each other, the same thought entered their minds.

Nodding at each other, the duo closed their eyes and slightly lowered their heads, concentrating hard on their magic.

Again nothing.

Suddenly both of them snapped up to look at each other.

The howls of the wind.. the sounds of the trees..

They can't hear them anymore..

But dust was still spiraling around them and they could make out the violent billow of the trees on the outside.

Had they suddenly gone deaf?

Their eyes widened when their ears caught… the whispers..

It was now more clear..

Anxiousness gripped at their thumping hearts as the eerie whispers faded in and out.

Their grip on each other never wavered as if their life depended on it.

The whispers..

Now it sounded like they were all around..

Like..

It was inside their heads..

Intimidating..

But intoxicating..

And even though they felt drawn towards it… fear gripped their thundering hearts at the same time..

The whispers started to get louder and clearer.

Narrowed onyx eyes stared at brown ones, silently communicating..

It was of a woman's..

The blonde's brow furrowed slightly at the .

But not human.

The duo's eyes widened slightly through the dust before snapping towards the basin over which they still gripped onto each other.

A white wisp!

White and blue energy gently radiated off of it as it slowly floated towards their interlocked elbows, circling up around their wrists before going up towards their hands.

Lips parted as the wisp glowed brightly, white engulfing their vision.

.

.

.

Outside, the monk watched as white light glowed from within the golden dust spiral, between the pair.

His eyes narrowed as the light grew brighter.

Suddenly the spiral dispersed.

Grey eyes widened in awe at the spectacle before him.

Time stopped and everything went quiet.

He could see the minute specks of dust suspending mid-air all around.

There in the middle of the still glowing red and yellow magic circle was the young couple, now levitating a few feet off the ground.

Their eyes were closed.

Looking as peaceful as ever, their hands still intertwined with each other's till the elbows while their hairs ruffled ever so slightly in the invisible wind.

His eyes landed on the white wisp that floated in the center of the basin before flitting over to the duo.

His breath hitched.

The center of their chests started to glow softly before two wisps, red from the pink-haired man and yellow from the blonde drifted out slowly, floating over to the white wisp in the basin in between the duo.

He watched on as the two wisps levitated above the white wisp before circling, gradually increasing speed.

Old grey eyes twinkled as the wisps blended together, before the white wisp slowly elicited two thin streams of white stardust which floated towards the small spiraling circle.

White reflected in his eyes as the circling balls blended together with the stardust.

The spiral shifted, realigning itself to swirl vertically in the air above the basin and duo, as the intensity of the light increased, while the runes of red and yellow that formed the two halves of the circle below the pair, rearranged.

Bright light engulfed the area as his frail hand immediately came up to shield his eyes.

After a moment, he cautiously lowered his hand.

His eyes instantly widened at the sight before him.

The large magic circle on the ground had become a beautifully intricate blend of red and gold, the markings sinuously weaving against each other.

But what caught his breath was the spectacle that shone gracefully above the charm circle.

A large bright circle of red and gold glowed elegantly as it suspended vertically above the sleeping pair.

His heart thundered in his chest as he stared up at the red and gold halves of stardust clouds that made up an enchanting circular hieroglyph.

Never in his life did he think that he would be able to see this wonderful spectacle.

One which he has only read in ancient scriptures.

' _Taijitu..'_

His eyes twinkled as he caught sight of the white wisp that still floated with grace above the water in the basin.

His lips parted slightly.

That wisp…

' _It can't be..'_

The glyph glowed brilliantly, proudly declaring its genesis.

And with a bright shine, the hieroglyph separated, before the red and golden balls of stardust shot straight back towards the center of the sleeping duo's chests.

With the soft glow from the center of their chests illuminating their peaceful faces, the pair slowly floated down, the light from the magic circle gracefully lighting up their whole being as their feet touched the ground.

Hands unconsciously tightened onto each other eliciting a shimmer from the rings donning their fingers, while the rune on their wrists reappeared, glowing bright white.

Bright olive green eyes and golden brown eyes snapped open, emotionless as ever, revealing a golden hieroglyph in them.

Faint whispers entered his ears as the monk watched with parted lips, as the pair lifted their heads to look at each other.

Their lips parted simultaneously as the rings and runes shone brighter, their voices coming out monotonously.

 ** _"_** ** _And with this link,_**

 ** _I shall forever be thine,_**

 ** _As do thou forever mine.."_**

The light in their eyes dimmed along with the magic circle below, returning to normal as the couple regained consciousness.

Their eyes fluttered open before staring wide-eyed at each other, their hands simultaneously shooting up to their lips.

"Did I say something?"

A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips as the priest's attention landed on the basin between them, his eyes twinkling at the reflection of two streaks that shot across the starry sky before uniting in a beacon of light.

' _And now the link is complete.'_

.

.

.

.

"Farewell you two!"

A thin wrinkled hand waved at the blonde and the pinkette who awkwardly walked side by side, their ring adorned hands still intertwined as they made their way towards the exit.

Still bewildered by the earlier events, the blonde dared a peak back at the priest, forcing on a small smile when she saw him looking at her and nodded her bye to him.

Crinkled lips suddenly parted as grey eyes slightly widened.

In place of the blonde and the pinkette..

Was a long blonde-haired woman, a little older than the girl, clad in peach knee-length sundress, walking away as she lightly laughed while looking up towards a blonde haired man who was grinning down at her, sporting a pair of capris and shirt… the silver rings on their tangled hands giving off a soft twinkle under the soft rays of festival lights that shone beyond the opened doors of the shrine.

He was suddenly snapped back to reality when the large entrance doors of the shrine creaked open.

Slanted grey eyes stood trained on the blonde girl walking hand in hand with the pinkette.

' _That girl… Is she Lady Layla's..?'_

 _._

 _._

 _._

As soon as they were far away from the shrine, the two immediately let go of each other's hands, setting a little more space between them.

Natsu rubbed the back of his neck, his now free hand still tingling, as he glanced at the blonde beside him.

A frown marred his features as he steered his gaze towards the ground.

What the hell just happened back there?

Why can't he remember anything that happened inside the spell circle after…

His brows furrowed even more.

…after whatever the hell had happened?

Onyx eyes glanced back at the blonde who looked deep in her thoughts.

' _Does she…'_

His eyes caught the slight crease in her brows.

Looks like she too doesn't remember.

While the pinkette was in his own spiral of questions, the blonde on the other hand was in a state of confusion, her mind going haywire.

 _'_ _What was that back there..?'_

Brown eyes drifted down towards the silver ring that donned her right hand.

Her heart thumped.

It felt as if a great weight settled in her chest..

Well, not _weight_ exactly..

Kind of like… she found a piece she didn't know was missing form her heart and now.. she didn't know what to do with it..

But, it was a problem she felt she would be contented with and had nothing else to worry about..

Her head drooped as she closed her eyes, a tired sigh escaping her parted lips.

Speaking of which..

Brown eyes snapped open, her head immediately turning to look to her left and right.

Those men might still be looking for her..

Blonde brows furrowed as she examined the crowd.

As long as they don't know her real identity, she was in the clear..

While the blonde scanned the buzzing crowd, Natsu watched her.

His brows furrowed slightly.

Who or what was she looking out for?

Is she.. hiding from someone..?

Her body language and heedful look instantly brought the earlier incident barreling back to his mind like a freight train.

His senses immediately went on full-on alert mode, as his narrowed eyes stayed trained on the blonde, on the lookout for anything she might try to pull on him.

For all he knew, she may try to kill him again..

If it weren't for the monk, he would have been looking over his dead body with a hole in the middle of his skull.

His eyes trailed down to the silver ring that clung to his ring finger.

This ring is just an act.

For all he knew...

She is using this to hide herself..

To blend in with her surroundings..

Suddenly, her face flashed into his mind… how she looked frightened.. lonely..

How he felt her hand trembling..

And how she looked up at him when he told her to never let go..

His face turned grim..

' _No..'_

It must have all been an act.

He needs to watch out for her..

' _Lucy Ashley..'_

If that is even her real name..

Slanted eyes flitted back up to scrutinize her.

There's so much to her than meets the eye…

What happened back there before the monk appeared, was proof enough..

"Hey! You two over there!"

Both of them swiftly turned their heads towards the voice, seeing a man in riot gear, approaching them, half his face covered by a black mask.

Natsu immediately felt the blonde next to him stiffen.

His eyes momentarily glanced to his side..

Her face looked calm though.

Unknown to him, the blonde clenched her jaw slightly, her brown eyes never leaving the man.

Her immediate instinct was to knock him out. To incapacitate him and brand her mark on him.

Her usual way of sending a message to her pursuers to back off.

To show them whom they were up against.

To show them, that she was game.

But..

She couldn't..

Not this time.

It was a matter of life and death..

Her eyes flitted towards the pinkette.

' _And certainly not with him around..'_

It would only jeopardize his life.

But she will..

After she has gotten enough proof.

Right now, her body was screaming for her to make a run for it, but she couldn't leave the man next to her, alone.

Although he looked like he could take care of himself, she didn't want to pin this fight on him.

She didn't like others fighting her fight.

But, if she did, then she would be revealing too much of herself.

And she can't have that..

If she revealed too much of herself to him, then that would be like putting a crosshair on his back. What she did back there at the shrine, might have been too much.

More importantly, she has unmasked herself to him. Well, not technically.. But even still..

So he might as well be on the run with her..

Or she can erase his memories for his own safety given the fact she doesn't want to drag him deeper and deeper into her own pit of troubles, scams, deaths and whatnots.

But something.. was preventing her from doing so..

Besides…

They didn't know how she really looked like..

No one knew..

The blonde smirked inwardly..

They didn't even know that she was a… _she.._

And the pinkette beside her may not even have the slightest idea as to who she is and what she was into..

The blonde silently stared at the man, calm radiating off of her.

The man eyed the two as he spoke, flashing his insignia that branded the opening on his left shoulder blade, "I'm from the Fiorean Federal Council. Have you two seen a suspicious blonde man dressed in black around here?"

The blonde shook her head, appearing to be innocently confused, "No, we haven't."

Brown eyes scrutinized the man before narrowing..

' _His eyes..'_

Even though he acted normal, his eyes seemed to tell a different story…

The blonde noticed that pinkette beside her was being too quiet.

Her eyes glanced to the side before jolting.

There stood Natsu, his eyes wide as they scanned the man from top to bottom, his lips parted in awe.

She swore she caught a glimpse of a small bit of drool dribbling out of the corner of his wide open mouth.

Onyx eyes never left the man.

"Uwaaahhh…."

This man.. he totally looked like a..

' _Ninja..'_

Her eyes narrowed slightly as the corners of her lips turned down..

Looks she has to step in herself.

She slightly lifted her left hand, about to make a move but got paused when a hum sounded to her side.

She glanced to her right to see a frown marring the pinkette's face.

Natsu continued to hum, suspicion clouding his features.

Aren't ninjas supposed to be all secretive and..

' _Wait..'_

His eyes..

There was no light in them..

No emotions..

As if he was being controlled.

The blonde relaxed as her eyes took in the stiffened pinkette.

Finally, he is starting to fit the pieces together.

Pink brows furrowed as they trailed down to the knife that sat sheathed in a brown leather case strapped to his belt, next to..

' _Is that a rifle..?'_

His eyes automatically shot towards the white baton in the masked man's hand.

Onyx eyes widened.

The man nodded, "Thank you for your co-operation. Have a ni-"

Natsu cut him off, his brows furrowed, "Hey, aren't you one of those people who's been going around threatening innocent peo-"

In the blink of an eye, a dagger shot through the air, a loud cry of pain following instantly, attracting the attention of the crowd around them.

Wide brown eyes stared at the edge of the dagger that stood a few inches from her eyes before trailing over to the flaming fist that gripped onto the man's wrist.

Heat radiated from the flames that almost licked her skin before cooling when the man immediately yanked his hand away and fell to his knees, screaming out in pain again.

Slitted onyx eyes glared down at the man as Natsu took a slow step towards him.

By now a crowd had gathered around them.

In another flash of a second, another battle cry and a shot followed by a thump rang throughout sending the spectators running haywire.

The blonde watched as the rifle flew to the side, courtesy of the pinkette who had kicked it out of the man's wrist.

Veins bulged out of his shadowed forehead as a tan hand hauled the man up by his shirt, the grimacing man coming face to face with a very enraged Natsu.

Natsu didn't know what came over him as blood roared in his ears.

He blared his teeth at the man whose eyes were as dead as ever, snarling at him as he shook him rapidly, " _Who the hell are you?! Who send you here?! Who is the man yo_ -"

"What's going on over there?!"

A feral growl rumbled up his throat as the pinkette snapped his head to the side, shooting a glare at whoever dared interrupt him.

He gritted his teeth on seeing a Council Knight pushing his way through the stampeding crowd.

His eyes closed momentarily as he took in a deep breath to calm his raging nerves.

Willing himself to relax, he turned his attention back towards the man who was emotionlessly staring back up at him.

The sound of approaching footsteps had the pinkette let out a breath and loosen his grip, but not before decking the man in the head, knocking him out cold before turning around to face the Knight.

The expression on his face changed as Natsu grinned at the Knight, his arms akimbo and chest puffed out.

"Ah! Just at the right time!"

The Knight immediately snapped his attention towards the unconscious man behind the pinkette.

Natsu jerked a thumb over his shoulder towards the body, "This guy's one of the men who was going around and scaring the people here at the carnival."

The man's eyes momentarily flitted towards the pinkette, giving a brisk nod, "Thanks for your help. I'll take it from here."

The pinkette stepped aside, giving way for the man who stepped towards the body before kneeling down and pulling out his magical restrainers to cuff the unconscious man.

Lucy frowned, her lips thinning in suspicion, ' _Hmm..'_

Onyx eyes watched the Knight's movements.

Usually, the pinkette would always be cowering back at the sight of a Council Knight, ready to run whenever he saw his chance. But now, the Council had officially requested his guild's help, he saw no reason to set a ten feet distance from the official.

Natsu frowned slightly, "Wait. Aren't ya goin' to use your fingerprint thingies to see who this man is?"

The man didn't turn around to face the pinkette, "Our system is momentarily down due to some technical issues. So I have to take him back to run his prints there."

Natsu only hummed before his nose wrinkled at a metallic scent.

His eyes darted towards the source before confusion marred his features.

"Hey.. Why is there blood on your neck..?"

The man paused momentarily, before resuming his movements, "Just got into some scuffle with this guy's buddies."

Natsu wasn't convinced with the answer as he took a step towards him, "Here, why don't I help you then?"

"Sir, I am going to have to ask you to step away. I'll handle it from here.", the man glanced at the pinkette sideways while his hand went to his hip to rest on the baton that hung from his belt.

Natsu immediately retracted, as he held up his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay. Relax there buddy. Just wanted ta help. But still..", he crossed his arms across his chest, "Aren't you going to turn out his pockets and all to see if he's carrying anymore weapons and stuff?"

"I don't need to.."

The pinkette raised a brow, "Eh? Why?"

"That's because he _is_ one of them. Watch out!"

Everything happened so fast as a hand shoved him away, a sharp pain shooting up from his behind causing him to squeeze his eyes shut in reflex as he skidded away on the ground, while his ears rung with more screams.

Onyx eyes squinted open before widening in shock.

' _What the-'_

Time slowed down, his pupils narrowing in horror at the thick red blood that spattered in the air.

His lips unconsciously parted to let out a faint grunt on seeing the blonde who stood in front of him, her right hand gripping firmly onto the blade of the dagger wielded by the snarling knight who had suddenly turned on Natsu.

Natsu found himself paralyzed, not being able to tear his eyes away from the dark red blood that had started to trickle down her hand and the dagger.

Her lips tightened into a thin line as slitted brown eyes glared at the man, narrowing even more when the Knight didn't show any signs of yielding.

Her grip on the blade tightened and Natsu's breath hitched on seeing the increase in the amount of blood, drops of which now spattered onto the ground.

Onyx eyes shimmered when out of nowhere, light started to engulf the blonde before his hand automatically came up to shield his eyes at the blinding brightness.

Shuffles and whacks mixed with yells and a metal clang followed, before his sensitive ears rung painfully with agonizing screams.

Light died down and he lowered his hand.

A grunt of surprise escaped his parted lips at the spectacle that greeted him.

There lay the knight, unconscious a few feet away from him next to the limp body of the man in black, the bloody dagger off to the side, as the blonde in front of him towered over them.

Her chest heaved as she let out labored pants, her narrowed eyes scrutinizing the bodies, while her bloody right hand hung freely at her side as blood dripped to the ground.

' _Why..'_

She was the one who threatened to take his life in the first place? Wasn't she…?

Then why did she save him..?

His mind was blank at the sudden events that occurred before he snapped back to reality when her left hand suddenly shot up to press against the right side of her rib cage.

He tried to find his voice as he stumbled to his feet, taking cautious steps towards the panting blonde who slightly hunched over, looking like she was trying hard not to fall down, "H-Hey.."

His right hand extended towards her, "A-Are you.."

He froze.

His breath hitched in his throat as his eyes widened in horror.

Bruises and gashes started to appear on her forearms and legs.

' _A… camouflage spell..?'_

Its… wearing out..

His eyes trailed over to where her hand was pressed firmly against her side.

His heart thumped with dread.

Red started to appear from under her hand, soaking the side of her yellow top.

He forced himself to croak out, "You-You're bleeding.."

He took in a sharp breath as the blonde slowly turned around to face him, one eye squeezed shut in obvious pain while she gazed up at him, "Y-Yeah, I'm fi…", her eyes fluttered close.

A gasp escaped him as Natsu rushed forwards, his hands instantly winding around her waist, effectively preventing her fall.

Wide onyx eyes stared down at the unconscious blonde's face, one hand coming up to softly pat her cheeks, "H-Hey. Hey. Wake up Lu-"

"Natsu!"

Thundering footsteps echoed in his ears and his head snapped up to see the whole Fairy Tail gang stampeding towards him with Erza and Gray leading them.

"Way to go ya stupid flameass! Who the hell did you beat up this time?!"

The group stopped in front of the pinkette as the red headed mage stepped towards him, "Natsu, who's this?"

The pinkette just numbly stared at them, the earlier event taking a toll on his mind.

Wide blue eyes stared at the pink-haired man who mutely stared at them, trailing down to the girl he held protectively in his arms and back up to his face.

Her chest felt heavy as a whisper escaped Lisanna's lips, "Natsu.."

Onyx eyes wandered over his guildmates while he held the limp blonde close to him.

"Natsu!"

His eyes snapped over to the red head who glared sternly at him, her hands on her hips.

Her fierce voice snapped Natsu out of his daze as he focused his attention on Erza.

His throat and mouth suddenly felt try as his jaw slackened.

He forgot to how to speak.

"Natsu! Answer me!"

Confused onyx eyes stared back at the red-head before slowly looking down at the girl in his arms, his grip around her tightening unconsciously.

"Who the hell is this girl, Natsu?!"

He flinched at the harsh voice as his gaze landed back on Erza.

Swallowing thickly, chapped lips parted open as he croaked out.

"U-Uh.. M-My.. My girlfriend..?"

* * *

 **Hmm.. Not proud of this chapter.**

 **Too long, wasn't it? Sorry for that. But, let me know who felt?**

 **Anyways, can you guys answer me this? Cause I really need to know.**

 **The black fugitive in first scene in Chappy-1. Did you understand who he was?**

 **And How would it feel if I tweak Lucy's power a little bit?**

 **Oh! And about your reviews. Do you guys like them to be answered via PMs or here only?**

 ** _Noctis- Latin for night_**

 **Lunar Solstice is something I came up with. Here, the moon is golden yellow and as described, the phenomenon is marked by a long night.**

 ** _Taijitu- another form of Ying and Yang. You can see the picture on the internet._**

 ** _Armonia- greek for unison/unity_**

 **X-Crafter is also another name I came up with. They are a kind of aircraft used for fighting as you have read. There will be more.**

 **Tell me how those names and spells sounded?**


	3. Clack, clack I seek you

**Proofread complete. Had to add some small details in between.**

* * *

 **IMPORTANT:**

 **' _Thoughts_ '**

* * *

 **Chapter-3**

 **Clack, clack... I seek you...**

* * *

 _No matter how far you run, I will always be there…_

 _…just a few steps behind you..._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _….or ahead._

"U-Uh.. M-My.. My girlfriend..?"

.

.

.

Olive green eyes peered up at the white dial of the Town Clock Tower as he had come to call it, a few blocks away, keeping his eyes trained on the chestnut brown structure that stood towering over the buildings in an attempt to mask the vexation that gripped at his nerves, although the slight downward turn to his thin chapped lips gave it away.

 _15 minu-_

A metallic clack sounded, interrupting his internal rant, when the large hand of the clock tower moved another minute, a suppressed grunt escaping the pinkette when he tried to hold back a cringe at the sound which was loud enough to cut through the eerily thick silence enveloping the scene and assault his sensitive ears, while he went on staring up at it, the frown still on his face before directing his gaze back forward, breathing out in exasperation through his nose.

 _16 minutes of hellish silence!_

That was the amount of time that passed since the group he called family found him there and were rendered speechless, collectively staring at him with their jaws dropped open shamelessly.

His brows drew down even more, his impatience growing exponentially when his eyes landed on his frienemy who once in his lifetime was fully clothed for more than a minute in that stupid plain white shirt and shitty brown capris as he gaped at him dumbly, the raven-head suddenly breaking out of his stupefied state and snapping his mouth shut the moment he saw the pinkette's brows furrow in irritation at him.

Even though the ice mage had just then realized that they had answered the silent fire mage with nothing but open-mouthed silence, his brain still hadn't had enough time to recover back its sense of reasoning, opening his mouth in an attempt to reply on behalf of the stupefied guildmates behind him, or atleast he thought he was...

Only for his words to come out in a spluttering mess..

"Buh whah-! hwow-!", Gray cut himself off, clearly flustered while his comrades continued to silently gape at Natsu with their jaws slackened still.

Gray cleared his throat, rather roughly in irritation at himself, before trying again.

"Buh whah-! hwow-!"

Loke smacked the backside of his head harshly with a loud whack, the ice mage hurtling forwards at the force but regaining his footing in the last minute before whirling his head around to nod a 'Thanks man" towards the orange-head who replied with a quick "Don't mention it"

Clearing his throat again, Gray turned his attention back towards the simmering pinkette as he took a step forward and opened his mouth to try again.

A loud long belch resonated throughout and all eyes collectively cringed in disgust as everyone turned towards the culprit.

On the far left of the group, a flushed Cana patted her stomach, a satisfied smile on her face before abruptly giving out a squeaky hiccup.

The guild members deadpanned.

Of course, the card mage had chosen the right time to let the alcohol get to her head.

Feeling eyes on her, the brunette threw them a momentary sideways glance, her face twisting into annoyance, obviously taking offense to their rude staring as she hugged her flask tighter in between bikini-clad bosom and clicked her tongue at them.

"Tch, I'm not drunk."

No one dared reply back to the frowning mage, the obvious answer to her declaration silently blaring through their minds as they watched the brunette's face morph into a scowl at their continued silence before turning around to fully face them, her nose flaring in righteous anger.

"I'm _not_ drunk!"

The pinkette and the ice mage started when Cana suddenly wheeled around to face them, her lips pursing as she glared at the two frozen men for a moment before sniffing indignantly.

"Whaaaat? You people have waaaay too much praaawblems!"

And just like that she whirled away from them as if nothing happened, the mouth of the flask back between her lips as she noisily gulped down its contents leaving everyone to silently stare at her back.

The legend has it, to this very day, the members of Fairy Tail still wonder how that flask never ran out.

"Anyways…", Gray started in an attempt to dissipate the awkwardness that had settled in the atmosphere, peeling his eyes away from Cana to look towards the topic at hand, cringing again when the card mage let out another burp.

The ice mage let out a short breath through his nose, "Focusing on the situation at hand..", his blue eyes landed on the pinkette and forced them to stay there as he tried to recollect what he was about to say before Cana had decided to interrupt him.

After a moment's thought, Gray began, "So, let me get this straight."

The raven-haired man took another cautious step forward and threw a quick glance back at his guildmates- who by now had resumed their previous task of shameless gawking – to confirm that he was not the only one who was feeling incredulous about the situation at hand, before directing his gaze back to his pink-haired frienemy, running the question he was about to ask in his mind a hundred _million_ times before he decided to let it slip his lips, all the while trying to keep his face and tone as _serious_ as he could.

Never, _not even once_ , in his lifetime of knowing the fire mage had the ice mage ever thought that he would be standing here, in the middle of a huge crisis which involved panicking people still milling about and asking a question that he knew had sounded so ridiculously funny no matter how many times he had tried pictured himself asking that in his mind right then and there.

 _'Cause.. Cause! For crying out loud this is Natsu we're talking about! There's no wa-!'_

"So basically, you're saying that-"

Gray's head snapped to his left in surprise, almost giving himself a whiplash, to see his partner, Loke who had sometime during the his inner ramblings had stepped next to him, his brows furrowed in genuine curiosity and yet the tension oozing off of his body telling otherwise.

He stared, as his orange-haired partner continued.

"..that she,", Loke merely pointed towards the wounded unconscious blonde in the bewildered pinkette's arms, "is yoouuuuur…. girlfriend.", he ended in more of a statement rather than a question.

The group of gaping mages in between, collectively snapped their heads back and forth between the silent pinkette and the two men, as if watching a game of Fiore Grand Supremo Tennis Tournament, the silence and the tension so thick in the air that if one tried to slice it with a knife, it would merely budge.

Another round of staring from the pinkette's end followed as he eyed both the men, as if he was asked a trick question to choose between fire and food, before answering with a meek hesitant nod.

And wordlessly Loke nodded back, his lips pursing into a thin line before turning on his feet to go back to resume his previous place among the group of guildmates that stood there still gawking at the scene, but not before yanking on the mute ice mage's collar and dragging him along, leaving an addled pinkette behind.

Levy watched the scene play before her from amongst the women standing a little ways from the men, before her hazel eyes drifted back toward Natsu. Her brows furrowed out of confusion and worry as to why the fire mage – who was well-known for his boisterous attitude and never stood in a place for more than 30 seconds - now appeared to be so mute and... pensive.

Her attention shifted down to the injured blonde in his arms, her eyes sweeping slowly over the bruises and cuts that littered all over body. Even from this distance, she could see that not an inch of her skin was spared, even her pale face sporting some cuts and bruises, and not to mention the trail of almost dried blood that ran down from top of her head, her eyes widening on noticing how that portion of her blonde hair is also thickly caked with dark blood.

Her right hand unconsciously tightened, slim fingers curling around a small white device encased within them. Levy tore her gaze away from the woman and looked down, twisting her hand upwards to reveal the contraption concealed within. Hazel eyes glimmered at the two green dots that blared back at her, the bluenette carefully studying the street map displayed on the screen.

"How long..?"

Her eyes snapped up at the hushed voice to find Mirajane staring back at her somberly, the sense of urgency clear from the way her features look strained.

Earlier , before the Fairy Tail members had dispersed off to find the perpetrators who had decided to disturb the carnival, the knights had lend each of the groups a lacrima tracker with which they can fire a beacon so that one of the few dispatched troupe of knights would find them. Levy had fired one on Mira's request a few moments earlier as soon as they had deduced that the blonde's condition was not at all okay.

"About ten blocks..", her voice was barely above a whisper as Levy threw a glance towards the guildsmen who were by now huddled together for God knows what before she turned her attention back to the screen, studying the dots that shimmered on the map - two green dots labelled as K03 and K08 which had appeared a few moments after the beacon signal was broadcasted - signaling that the pair of knights had accepted her call for help and on their way.

The script mage's brows furrowed in sheer concentration as she mentally calculated the distance between the two green spots on the map and the red triangle which showed her location. After a moment's assessment the bluenette let out a short breath through her nose, the crease on her forehead deepening even more and her face paling slightly in perturbation, "It will probably take them atleast an hour.", her eyes flitted up towards Mira, "Maybe even more, depending on how far.. and deep, this..", her eyes darted around them, roaming over the still frightened people swarming around the town square, "situation has spread.."

Mira didn't reply, following the petite woman's gaze, studying the situation that prevailed around them. The commotion had by now decreased, the few people remaining in the area being the vendors who had fled to escape the maelstrom earlier and now returned to find out what was left of their stalls, some which were by now reduced to a pile of ruined merchandise and debris, and the others, devoid of valuable goods and their earnings from the carnival.

The white-haired mage bit the inside of her cheek, an unconscious habit of hers whenever anxiety gripped at her nerves. She inwardly prayed that whatever was going on here had come to an end and that the Magic Council had the perpetrators responsible in magic-cancelling cuffs and on the way to prison.

Beside her, the script mage was nowhere better, lips tightened into thin line, uneasiness settling over her petite frame and gripping her to the very core. Her narrowed eyes were trained on the pinkette and the unconscious blonde now, a million questions blaring in her mind like angry bees swarming around someone who had shattered their hive with a huge whack.

Just, what had happened before they found him that had the blonde in such a state? Did Natsu have something to do with it that has rendered him mum and grim-faced?

Levy inwardly shook her head in an attempt to dissipate the thoughts that seemed to pour into her mind endlessly. She let out an inaudible sigh, hoping she would get her answers as soon as the situation at hand was settled, merely glancing back over to the men before doing a double take, her brows raising incredulously and her jaws slackening.

In fact, all the women of Fairy Tail wore similar expressions as they stared at the scene, while the pinkette looked slightly ticked off, obviously tired.

And the next second found the females deadpanning as they edged away in mild irritation to keep a safe distance from the very real dark-violet bubble which felt toxic to even look at, encasing the so-called men of Fairy Tail who were still huddled together.

The bluenette's face scrunched up in frustration as she let out a low groan, "Not this again.."

Growls, low rumbles, hums mixed with other sounds indescribable, that had the women of Fairy Tail stunned and nonplussed that humans were capable of even producing them, resounded from within the.. 'sphere' - a dull-witted behavior which, they had long ago given up on trying to decipher, and the males had always claimed was their 'brotherhood of whatever' dialect and hence could not be disclosed.

And what that god-awful bubble or orb or whatever-it-was-they-called was, none of the girls knew.. Or rather, didn't want to know. They had better things to do anyways.

Things like trying to find a solution to life-and-death situations like right now - how to keep the bleeding unconscious blonde alive till help arrived. Or like why Natsu of all people chose to remain silent and timid in a situation like this since the pinkette was always the one who never kept his mouth shut, yapping on and on about how he was itching for a fight when matters got frustrating that he did not want to think.

 _Growl_

 _Grrowlll_

 _"Mmm"_

 _"Mmm-mm!"_

"Ugh, this is just getting ridiculous.", Levy groaned miserably, her shoulders drooping along with her head as Mirajane giggled next to her.

For someone who didn't know Fairy Tail personally, they would have thought this to be some top-level-super-secret war council held amongst the powerful, most well-reputed guildsmen of Fiore.

'Pfft! Well-reputed my ass!', Levy snorted silently as she shook her head.

Next to her, Lisanna felt equally incredulous at the males' behavior, some of them nodding with vigor, some with their arms crossed across their puffed out chests, others who were almost obscured from view, being seen waving their arms around as if their gorilla-like body language and the cacophony they were making were not enough to express their 'major problem' at hand.

"Rrrr"

"Bulubululu bulululu bulubu bubbuuulubulu!"

Head still drooping low, Levy muttered, "I can get why they would get defensive against Natsu since his declaration, but.."

"Rrrr-rrrrrrrr-mmmm"

"Mmm"

"..they could have atleast waited till the situation was well under control.", Levy's voice had turned into a whimper, before lifting her head up to look at the men, "Can't they read the situation?", she waved over to the blonde in the fire mage's arms, snapping her head to look at the two white-haired sisters as she continued, now whisper-shouting, "There is an injured woman who if we don't get to a hospital immediately would die of blood loss or god knows-what and-!"

"BBUA!"

All the women jumped at the sudden squawk that resounded from within the 'bubble'.

Mira had a hand loosely over her mouth in surprise before she turned to look at Levy only to sweatdrop on seeing the bluenette breathing sharply through her now flared nose, her chest rising and falling with the action, and her jaws clenched and body stiff and shaking with suppressed fury, as she glared with narrowed eyes at the men who were oblivious to her death stares as they proceeded to thump their chest like wild Vulcans.

Apparently someone must have suggested a solution for the 'thing' - which might have been most seriously unimportant that they had to put the injured blonde's life on the line - that they had to discuss, and the 'solution' must have been brilliant beyond brilliant that all the male population within the 'bubble' had to let loose that hideously frightening crow that they had heard just now that would have had made even Erza wet her panties...maybe not, but a little perhaps.

Mira could see that the script mage was trying hard to not let their behavior get the best of her, closing her eyes to take in a deep breath and letting it out slowly through her parted lips. Opening her eyes, Levy tried to look unaffected, maintaining a poker face as she opened her mouth but failed when her voice came out in a low venomous hiss, her lips twisting into a sneer.

"I swear they are just a bunch of overgrown brats who don't know how to use their brains even if their lives depended on it, with too much energy and time to spare!"

While the bluenette raved on and on about how the men of Fairy Tail were just brainless vessels with overflowing hormones, next to her a very uneasy Lisanna couldn't take it anymore, "Gray-!"

The girl broke off with a start when the dark bubble burst with a literal pop, causing all the women to nearly jump out of their skin.

The said ice mage was looking back at Lisanna with a blank face with Loke next to him, the rest of the men donning similar expressions, causing a shiver to crawl down the women's spines, obviously creeped out by their weird behavior.

The females didn't dare make a peep, watching with bated breaths as all the men silently turned their heads after a moment towards the disheveled pinkette, all the girls' eyes snapping towards Gray at the front of the group when he lowered his head and let out a shaky breath through his now parted lips seemingly appearing to restrain whatever it was he was trying to hold back, before sealing his lips and drawing them into a thin line, his cheeks puffing out not a moment later as if he was gagging before his mouth burst open again with a slight pop to let out nothing but trapped air.

Natsu who had been silently studying his frienemy flinched when the ice mage suddenly snapped his head up to stare at him, his face wavering on the borderlines of an emotion which none of the girls nor the pinkette were able to place.

Moments passed before out of nowhere, Gray let out something remotely akin to a snort, his eyes scrunching up and his mouth pulled into a wide grin, suddenly hunching over, his hands on his knees for support before struggling to look up at Natsu with the grin still etched onto his face.

His voice came out in broken syllables as he wheezed out, "H-H- I'm s-soh so-oh-orry man! I-ah-I'm so-!"

Gray cut off as his legs gave out, dropping to his knees, one hand clutching onto his stomach for dear life giving Lisanna a fright as she reeled back in horror with a shriek, her petite hands flying up to cover her wide-open mouth, "Gra-!"

Loud howls of laughter cut her off as the ice mage now hunched over with the crown of his head kissing the cobblestoned ground, the other men following suit less than a second later, some keeling over like Gray because they had lost all sense, some having enough strength in their legs to remain bending over while some leaned onto each other for support as they laughed and roared in each other's ears to their hearts' content.

The women just stood silent, not bothering to mask the look of bafflement that crossed their faces as they stared at the cackling men, obviously not understanding the unexplained joke.

Tears dripped down his cheeks as Macao guffawed on, slapping Wakaba's shoulder as he tried to crack an even more hilarious joke of his own by spelling out, "Oh!-Oho-oho-h! Our young N-A-T-S-U h-has- h-has a- has a G-I-R-Lf-F—pffftt- RIEND!"

"Y-Yeahaha!", an equally teary-eyed Wakaba roared back in reply, "A-a-nd-! A-and I-I'm w-wear-i-ing p-pi-pi-pink-k t-tho-ongs!"

Dead silence immediately fell over the men.

The whole male population of Fairy Tail stared at Wakaba with dumb-stricken expressions on their faces, the smoke mage's chuckles dying down immediately as a result, his face slowly morphing into one of pure confusion, as a pale-faced Macao dropped his hand from his shoulder and leaned away from him in caution, keeping a safe distance between them.

An equally ashen Gray who was a few paces away to the front, warily eyed the pompadour-haired man as he gingerly croaked out, "D-Du-ude… A-A-Are you…?"

For those who didn't know, Wakaba's eyes were normally pinched.. So pinched and someone who didn't know would think that the man had someone draw two dashes on his face for his eyes and that he was squinting because he couldn't see properly. But now, when he stood there in the center of the circle of comrades, turned to look at Macao, his longtime friend and found him carefully eyeing back and forth between his belt-line and his face, he found himself unconsciously widening his eyes so wide open - that even short-sighted person who stood at the far edge of the town could tell the color of his pupils - jolting in his place, his cigar falling from his slackened mouth at the action as his voice unknowingly went up an octave higher as he spluttered, "Wha.. Are you- are you serious?!", his face twisted into a pleading look.

"Please tell me you're kidding..", he frantically turned his head to look at the ice mage for help, thinking the man might be kidding, only to see him also warily eyeing his hips before meeting his eyes, his features tensed as if ready to run if ever the smoke mage decided to throw an explosive fart bomb at them.

"Wha-?! I'm no- ", Wakaba's mouth dropped open even further, gaping like a fish out water as he looked back and forth between the ice mage and Macao before his face twisted into a scowl, whirling around to shoot a glare at Macao, his hands flying up to grip at his hair as his voice came out louder and higher, "For crying out loud! It was a freeaaking joke, you sick assholes! I was makin' a freakin' joke!"

Macao appeared unimpressed, his hands inside his pockets as he shrugged, his eyes still on the smoke mage's hips, "Could've fooled me."

Wakaba gritted his teeth as he growled lowly, turning his body to fully face Macao who just closed his eyes in response as he turned away from him, hands still pocketed and features now relaxed, pretending to brood for a moment, before peeking one eye open to glance at him sideways, "Remember that time when we were at your house in the backyard one summer, you got hold of your wife's pi-"

"Ho-oh-ho-ho-o!", Wakaba cut him off, stomping a few paces towards him with a hand pointed at Macao threateningly, his voice slightly shaky yet loud, "One more word out of you and I swear I will smoke your sweaty balls out man! Or better yet..", the smoke mage suddenly cooled down as if nothing happened, his face calm as ever, features relaxed, as he turned away from Macao with his arms crossed and eyes closed, a sinister smirk making its way to his lips before he gave the purple-head a sidelong glance.

Macao couldn't help the shiver that involuntarily crawled down his spine, his shoulders going stiff like a pole as he swallowed thickly, waiting with bated breath for the smoke mage to continue, but he seemed to take his sweet time enjoying how his friend was suffering under the thick suspense.

After what seemed like hours to the purple-head but was actually just a few seconds, Wakaba looked away allowing himself a short silent chuckle before continuing, his voice low and taunting, "Remember that party we had at the guild, after that Fantasia parade?"

Wakaba paused again, allowing the weight of the deafening cold silence to settle on the sweating man whose eyes had just then started to widen upon a distant memory, "Do you remember a certain someone finding a pair of boxers in the guild kitchen.. near a certain cheesecake.. Violet with duck prints all. _Over_..", Wakaba enunciated the last two words slowly, pausing again before continuing, "...along with a pair of leopard print fur handcuffs and a pink chas-!"

He broke off abruptly when Macao slammed his forehead against his, effectively keeping him in place as he sneered darkly, "You wouldn't dare!"

Wakaba grinned back sinisterly, " _Try me,_ dic-!"

 _"Enough!"_

Everyone stiffened up, some of the male guild members unconsciously letting out an 'eep' as their eyes landed on the fuming red-head who glowered at them menacingly.

Erza, who had left the group to scout the area for any knights nearby, trusting her comrades to have Natsu briefed and the wounded woman on the way to hospital by the time she rejoined them, upon her return found herself being greeted by a scene even worse than before.

As soon as her caramel brown eyes laid upon the wounded blonde whose skin had started to turn pale blue, while all the male members of the guild laughed without a care in the world, her face darkened considerably, her hands clenching into fists at their negligence of the direness of the situation.

Her voice was laced with venom as she hissed out, "I leave the area for what, a _few_ _**minutes**_ , trusting you people to have the situation under control! _And this_ _"_ , her left armored hand shot out to point at Natsu.. more specifically the woman in his arms, her glare still on the silent repenting men, "is what I find!"

She gritted her teeth as she continued, her voice raising by the second, quivering slightly as she tried to keep her anger in check, "A woman is unconscious and not to mention, _in **grave** need of medical attention_ and _you_ _**imbeciles**_ have the _audacity_ to go and _laugh_ at your comrade instead of trying to _help_ him out! _What the hell has gotten into you people, huh?!",_ her face scrunched up into something akin to pity and remorse for her guild as her voice lowered slightly, "Is this even my guild?"

Confusion momentarily layered the men's faces as they stared at the blonde in their comrade's arms, their faces changing when the seriousness of the situation finally dawned on them, but they didn't reply for fear of unleashing her wrath on themselves... a thing they fear worse than death itself.

Behind Erza, Levy suddenly frowned when her gaze fell down to the unconscious men on the ground behind the silent pinkette before her jaws slackened slightly.

'What the..'

A million thoughts suddenly ran through her mind, her face paling with dread the longer she stared at them.

Were those men laying there before..? How the hell was she seeing them now only?!

'Wait..', her mouth dropped open even more, 'Are those...'

Her blue brows furrowed even more, the bluenette now finding her voice as she mumbled out, "Is that-", she broke off suddenly, letting out a gasp, her dainty hands flying up to cover her mouth which fell wide open in shock, "Natsu! Did you-!", she cut herself off again, unable to form a coherent sentence owing to the weight of the realization that struck her like a freight train, her eyes snapping back and forth between the pinkette and the knocked out men on the ground, pure white horror washing over here as she shrieked, "Did you knock out a Council Knight?!"

That got everyone on high alert, their eyes immediately snapping towards the said unconscious men, the group falling into hushed whispers.

The bluenette's shout seemed to knock the pinkette out of his muddled state, her words although having escaped his ears as he blinked, looking around at everyone in mild curiosity. Realizing their attention seemed to be not on him thankfully, he followed their line of sight, momentarily craning his neck sideways to catch a glimpse of their focus before he did a double take, his heart dropping into his stomach when his eyes landed on the men lying behind him.

His mind was blank as his gaze lingered on them for a moment. He knew how the situation looked like and he had to phrase his answer carefully.

His Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he attempted to swallow but felt his throat and mouth painfully dry as a desert. Clearing his throat to overcome the discomfort, he turned his head back to regard his family who were still patiently waiting for his reply, seemingly holding in their breaths so as to not let even a peep from him go unheard.

Curling his arms around the blonde to tighten his hold on her, Natsu shifted his attention towards Levy to reply to her question, his voice dry, "U-Uh, they-they are one of those bozos who's been scaring off the people here… And uh..", he casted a fleeting glance back down at the knight again before gazing back up at Levy and Erza, "he-uh he tried to knife me for no reason when I wasn't looking…", his gaze dropped down to the girl in his arms, "That's when she stepped in an-"

"Make way people! Council Rangers coming through! Make way!"

The loud voice that boomed from behind the crowd had the whispers settling down yet only slightly, as every head turned to look toward the source, the group parting into two to give way for three men donning uniforms of black and violet, slightly ruffled up but neat, with full-length sleeves, right bicpes bearing a Maltese Cross in silver- the crest that represented a subdivision of armed force under the Fiorean Magic Council- briskly making their way to the front, their stoic features masking the hours of exertion that the ruckus caused by the perpetrators had demanded from them.

Trailing behind them were a small group of men and women dressed in civilian clothes, but the guild marks adorning the visible part of their bodies didn't take a genius to figure out that they were from another mage guild, probably in a similar situation as Fairy Tail.

The knights abruptly paused mid-step, barely out of the group, their attention solely toward the front.

Natsu's eyes fell wide open, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights.

It didn't take a genius to figure out how fast the trio were to connect the dots – the pinkette who stood wide-eyed at their sudden presence, the bloody unconscious blonde in his arms and the bruised knocked out men behind him.

While the knights stood there dumbfounded, silently speculating the scene, the pinkette stood stiff as a pole, his heart wildly beating against his chest with bated breath, his numb brain quick to figure out how the picture presented itself to them, his blood running cold as the men's eyes widening within a fraction of a second, a reaction which drew the curtain to the little peace he had moments before which the pinkette now realized he would treasure, all the buzzing in his brain lurching to a stop at one word.

'Shit.'

In a flourish of thundering clacks and refulgent magical circles, the uniformed men were armed and ready in record time, their released magical staffs in front of their chests aiming at the paling wide-eyed pinkette whose jaws slackened slightly at his helplessness.

"Uh.."

"PUT THE GIRL DOWN AND STEP AWAY FROM THE MEN!"

"W-Wait I can exp-"

"HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD NOW!"

"I-It's not what it looks li-"

"YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT!"

"Please, let me-"

"ANYTHING YOU SAY OR DO CAN AND WILL BE USED AGAINST YOU IN THE HIGH COUNC-"

"WOAH WOAH WOAH!", Gray, who had stumbled out of the group behind the men and bounded over to stand in front of Natsu, cut in, after concluding that the knights were not going to listen to the paling fire mage, not realizing that the knights' staffs were only inches away from his chest, the very staffs that he himself and the fire mage never even wanted a taste of.

Lisanna gasped in horror, dreading the painful buzz the staffs can deliver on one's body (not that she has experienced one) before letting out a shriek, "Gray!"

The ice mage was too busy to concentrate on trying to quell the knights as he extended his arms outwards on either side to shield the stuttering pinkette, raising his voice louder so as to be heard over the uniformed men who were still screaming at the top of their lungs leaving no room for interruptions, "YOU GUYS ARE MAK-!"

"SIR! I NEED YOU TO KINDLY STEP AWAY FROM THE SUSPE-!", the lean silver-haired knight in the middle of the trio, who had lowered his weapon slightly to convince the ice mage to move out of the way, broke off abruptly at the scene that suddenly transpired in front of him, a shiver raking up his spine as he blanched, his voice low and confused as his shoulders slackened, "Wa-wait, Why are you..", suddenly feeling out of breath, he inhaled sharply through his parted lips, his face changing colors, from pale white to natural tone to full-blown red, unconsciously losing his grip on his baton before he fumbled to catch it. Managing to secure his grip on his trusty issued weapon, he snapped his frenzied gaze back on to the raven-haired mage.

His left hand donned in white gloves shot out pointing an accusing finger at Gray, the terror of the current situation gripping at his nerves causing his body to stiffen upright as his voice came out louder and an octave higher sounding as if he was violated, "WHY AND WHEN THE HELL DID YOU TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF?!"

His brown-haired partner was quick to act, coming to his aid as he jumped in front of the silver-head, his baton pointed straight at the raven-haired mage, his face stern as he yelled out, "FREEZE PUNK! ON THE GROUND NOW!"

Now Gray was confused, panicking as to why the men suddenly turned on him without reason, his face going sickly white as he leaned back away stiffly as he eyed the staff that was just mere inches away from his face, its end now starting to buzz with lightning yellow sparks. His mouth ran dry as words came out jumbled at first before he too screamed in a higher pitch, "W-Wai-! Wait! Why am I THE ONE GETTING ARRESTED NOW?!"

The brunette knight was quick and prompt with his answer, "FPC SECTION 505, INDECENT EXPOSURE! YOU! ARE UNDER ARREST FOR UNDRESSING IN PUBLIC IN FRONT OF THESE WOMEN AN-"

"Hubbah, Hubbah.."

Everyone went silent as they turned to stare at the commenter; one of the women behind the three knights, clad in shorts and plunge neck crop top, peeking below the hand of her fellow flustered male guild member who had tried to block her vision from the revolting sight, with a smirk donning her face and arms crossed across her busty chest in a relaxed stance.

The corners of the ice mage's lips turned up into a smirk directed back at the woman as his blue eyes relaxed into one that resembled bedroom eyes whenever his confidence boosted courtesy of his playboy side, his outstretched arms lowering a sliver before briefly catching himself, the smirk on his lips falling as his eyes slowly swept past the woman and over to her fellow guildsmen who were throwing dirty looks at him. Or more specifically.. A little south from where his face was supposed to be. Whereas his guildmates were.. Well.. They appeared to be having a deadpanned look that had, "Real smooth, moron" written all over their faces.

That had the ice mage furrowing his brows even more, "What.. are you guys..", his voice faded off as he followed their gazes, his eyes casting a fleeting glance down and back up at them before doing a double take, his eyes widening at the sight of his white shirt, capris pants and black boxers with a white material which he recognized as his underwear peeking out from it, littering around him.

Mind still dazed at his audience's collective attention on him, he looked back up confused at the still ogling people as he still stood spread-eagled, his brain now starting to connect the dots before his head lowered to look back down...there... After a moment's staring, his shoulders suddenly slackened slightly as he let out a subtle, "Oh."

And then the recognition that he was standing there like that, arms outstretched on either side, literally baring his 'jewels' before the law as if he was on display washed over him, feeling like the magic within him had turned the veins in his body to ice from head to toe.

If there was one thing he feared most – besides Fairy Tail's Titania- it would be the dark underground prison cells that had always been in the spine-chilling myths told by the elders of Fairy Tail to him and Natsu and the other guildsmen from a very young age that had them cowering under the blankets.. Even to this very day – an embarrassing secret he would like to take to his death grave, thank you very much.

It was as if their minds were connected as the whole male population of Fairy Tail started got paler and paler at the reminder of those stories while most of the women looked away with what looked like mild irritation, embarrassment clearly out of the picture since they all were used to seeing his pale ass in all its glory and his other...man parts, staring back at them.

The daunting realization of having broken a law in front of The Law that might end him up with a possible arrest had tears suddenly spouting out of his eyes as if a faucet had exploded, as the ice mage let out a loud squawk, his hands flailing around like a stubborn infant before immediately slapping over his manhood as if he had just realized he lost his virginity, "AAAAHHH! NOOO! I CAN EXPLAAAII-!"

"Stop moving or else we be forced to cast Restriction Runes on you..", the purple-haired knight hissed lowly, glowering from his place to right of the silver-head, the ends of his staff crackling profusely with white hot electric sparks. The knight stepped forward deciding to incapacitate a panicking ice mage who was too busy to hear him as he scrambled aroung for his clothes to cover himself up, but Levy jumped in front of him in attempt to protect him from the knight, her voice pleading, "Please wait! This all a big mistake!"

Jet and Droy let loose a horrifying shriek, "Levy-chan! Get ba-"

The purple-haired knight froze mid-step in surprise, immediately reeling away the staff to prevent harm from reaching the petite bluenette, the sparks on the staff dying down instantly, "Ma'am! I need to kindly ask you to step away from the two suspe-"

"Don't you dare call me Ma'am!", Levy growled lowly, her face suddenly turning dark as her eyes narrowed dangerously at the man. Knight or not, she will not tolerate such insults!

"I am not some ol-"

A now fully clothed Gray proceeded to step up behind Levy as he cut in, his voice equally loud yet with attempted politeness so as not to rile up the lawmen even more, "If you guys would just liste-!"

A loud battle cry cut him off, "Come here, you perverted ugly piece of shit!"

Gray let out a yelp in surprise when a hand grabbed him by his collar, yanking him sideways giving him a whiplash before his forehead painfully slammed against another, pain immediately shooting through his head, his ears ringing as he let out another pained yelp.

Blinking his eyes open through the searing pain in his forehead, he found himself staring into green eyes burning with rage, the owner breathing heavily as he fisted a handful of his collar and kept him in his place, "What the hell are you getting at?! Huh?!"

Gray blinked in surprise, recognizing his opponent to be one who had tried to cover the eyes of the woman who had ogled at his naked self earlier, before his eyes immediately narrowed at the man in frustration. He had to convince the knights and get Natsu out harm's way. But this man was wasting his time!

Gritting his teeth in pure vexation, his right hand came up to grip the man's wrist that held him in place as he snarled lowly, " _Get the **fuck** out of my face, pissass!" _

That seemed to rile up his blonde-haired opponent even more as he twisted the collar of the ice mage's shirt into a harsher grip, "Listen here you mangy-assed stripper! If you dare-!"

"I don't have time for your bullshit!", Gray's patience was wearing thin. Tightening his grip on the blonde's wrist, he pushed back into his forehead causing the other to momentarily loosen his grip on his collar stumbling back in surprise as Gray ended, "Go pick on someone else for your male dominance shit."

Gray threw one last glare at the man, his right hand coming up to pull up his collar in an attempt to straighten it out, before turning away to focus on the situation at hand, pausing abruptly in mild surprise when he found Levy standing her ground and having an intense shouting match with the brunette knight.

Gray took a moment, his gaze flitting around to take in the situation, sweat-dropping slightly when he saw most of the Fairy Tail men caught up in a similar hostile situation with the men from the other guild, a helpless look suddenly crossing his face, 'How the hell did we end up like this..?'

The silver haired knight who was momentarily thrown off by Gray's display before, came to his senses as he tried to push in between the shouting duo and speak calmly yet loudly over the din, "All of you please calm down!"

Suddenly a force slammed into Gray from behind, courtesy of his screaming blonde opponent, the ice mage lurching forward with a yelp before catching himself in the last minute from falling into Levy.

The silverette must have been one patient man as he calmly tried to pacify the duo who was still ignoring him, "Guys! Please!"

Gray twisted on his feet with a menacing growl, a scowl etched on his face as he shoved the man back hard, " _What the hell's wrong with you man?!_ "

The blonde stumbled back slightly before propelling forward, baring his teeth, "What the hell is wrong with you?!", he pushed the ice mage back with double the force and Gray tripped back with a grunt, failing to catch his footing this time and bumping into the fuming bluenette behind him, the woman letting out a short 'Kya!" as she reeled toward the brunette knight whose eyes widened before stepping back to avoid her, while Jet and Droy scrambled to save the bluenette by hurtling themselves in her way to cushion her fall. The trio ended up with Levy lying back on top of Droy and Jet who had fallen face first into the ground, one's foot in the other's face.

"We need to maintain calm in situations like these..", the silver head tried again, taking a step toward his brown-haired partner who had resumed his shouting match with the petite bluenette who had gotten up as if nothing happened.

A yelp sounded from behind the silverette as Gray lurched back with the blonde man's head buried in his stomach, both of them falling to the ground with the raven-head cushioning the fall.

Having had enough, Gray roared in anger, bulging veins decorating his forehead as he rolled them over and straddled the blonde, fisting a handful of the man's black t-shirt before pulling him towards his face as he reeled back his right hand, preparing to punch the living daylights out of the guy.

By now chaos had broken out, all the men involved in a fight of their own, the silver haired knight clapping a single clap in attempt to gain the crowd's attention, a subtle yet forced smile on his face, "Why don't we all take a deep breath and deal with this matter like adul-"

"WE AIN'T DOIN' NOTHIN'!"

A thump resounded before a burly man larger than Elfman bearing the mark of the other guild on the side of his neck, fell on top of an unsuspecting purple-haired knight who was merely standing away from the group with his staff at the ready, the knight going down with a squawk of surprise. Macao and Wakaba glowered at the bulky man as they dusted off their hands, before triumphant smirks crossed their faces as Macao propped his elbow on his partner-in-crime's shoulder.

"LADY! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GET HURT, YOU BETTER STEP ASIDE!", the brunette knight shouted, him and Levy now in an intense staring match, both not willing to back down, even if Levy's life depended on it.

To the side, Lisanna groaned in exhaustion, running a hand down her face as she wearily eyed the scene and drawled out a tired whimper, "How did it end up like this?"

Mira couldn't help but giggle at the situation and her sister, "Ara ara.."

The younger sister couldn't fight off the helpless smile that tugged at her lips, as she allowed herself a light chuckle, her gaze still trained on the simmering Levy and the brunette knight while Jet and Droy cheered her on from the sidelines.

Her attention darted towards Gray who was on the ground, the scowl still on his face as he suddenly extended his foot up to plant it into the stomach of his enraged blonde opponent who had charged towards him like an angry bull, sending him hurtling a few feet away, before getting up with mere effort and dusting himself off, harrumphing at the blonde on the ground and turning to walk away.

'I guess that's what makes Fairy Tail, Fairy Tail..'

It seems that the brunette knight had been itching for a fight as he raised his voice again to mask the smugness that crossed his otherwise enraged demeanor, "MA'AM! THIS IS THE LAST WARNING! IF YOU DO NOT STEP AWAY, WE WILL CONSIDER YOU AS AN ACOMPLICE TO THESE TWO SUSPECTS!"

And that might have been just been the thing Levy was looking for as she let out yet another growl, preparing herself to launch at him, "Oh, you asked for-!"

A loud battle cry resonated and Gray, who had opened his mouth to talk to a silent Natsu, let out a tired groan, gritting his teeth as he rolled his eyes in vexation before he twisted around in his place, "You've got to be kidding me!"

"That's it!"

Levy was quick to hold herself back, promptly silencing herself and inwardly crying out a thanks to herself for that quick thought even through her blind rage as she and Gray, who had paused midstep in giving the crazed blonde man a piece of his mind, froze when red hair swished past them at lightning speed.

Bang!

All eyes that had squeezed shut to block out the horrifying sight that had happened, blinked open after a moment later to see a stern-faced Erza who looked unaffected holding Gray's opponent by his hair, the man unconscious as his forehead steamed red from receiving a death blow from her armored hand before she let go of the man who slinked to the cobblestoned ground as if he was boneless.

Eerie silence followed, no one dared to breathe as they stared at the stone-faced redhead who stood there still, one arm akimbo, her cold gaze sweeping over them as if scouting for her next prey.

The knights stood silent as well, the silverette looking unaffected albeit the bead of sweat that trickled down the side of his face showed off his fear, while his partners stood there, white as paper, jaws dropped, on either side, hugging their staffs to their chest as if they were born with them.

Finally after a long moment, Erza finally shifted her gaze back to the knights who immediately stood at attention, the air growing thicker as the weight of the situation finally started to settle upon the Fairy Tail guild members.

"Officers.", Erza started, "On behalf of my guild, Fairy Tai,. I apologize for having wasted your time like this.", the woman bowed as a sign of apology, straightening up after a moment before continuing, locking eyes with the silver-haired knight as she concluded him to be the most responsible one out of the trio, her words coming out slowly as she carefully chose her next words, "But, I believe we deserve to be heard as well before you make any.. conclusions.."

The man nodded as he stepped forward, "Apologies for the shenanigans on our part Miss. And sorry for not properly introducing ourselves earlier. We're from the Demesne Council Rangers. And as you can see, we are in a bit of a dilemma ourselves as well...", he gestured over to the other guild members who had gathered behind his partners, "We were in the middle of a search party bef-"

"Um, K06?"

Everyone snapped their heads towards the voice to find the purple-haired knight step towards the silver-head, his gaze trained on the pinkette.. Or rather.. The injured blonde in his arms.

The purple-head immediately snapped his gaze toward Erza, his expression apologetic, "Uh-Sorry! But before we get to interrogations and stuff, I seriously think your friend over there is in dire need of medical attention.", urgency laced thickly in his voice, seemingly having recognized the gravity of the blonde's condition just then, before directing his gaze back to the silver-head who he regarded as K06, "I need to give her first-aid immediately."

K06 nodded, a grim expression coloring his face, "Go ahead K12."

Everyone watched as K12 strode past Erza towards a silent Natsu who stared at him.

"Here..", the knight's gentle voice broke him out of his muddled state, while the crowd proceeded to murmur in silence amongst them.

Natsu blinked, feeling the man's gloved hand brush against his arm as he helped to support her weight, "We need to lower her down so I can give her first-aid."

Together both of them lowered the blonde gently to the ground, Natsu proceeding to sit cross-legged on the ground so as to cradle her in his lap.

"Natsu.."

The said pinkette looked up, freezing in a crouch, half of the limp blonde's weight supported by the knight and half in his extended arms, finding Erza's steady yet gentle gaze upon him, a stoic Gray and a calm K06 next to her along with his brown-haired partner, their attention trained on him.

The armored mage gestured him over, "Come over here. These officers want to ask you some questions."

Natsu looked torn. He wanted to stay with the purple-haired knight as he tended to the blonde but did not want to be the next victim of the redhead's wrath.

"Go.."

His gaze darted back to his front to see the purple-head looking at him with a calm gaze, "I can handle this.."

Natsu looked unsatisfied with the answer, his gaze wandering down to the blonde now lying on the ground courtesy of the knight, still crouching as he contemplated whether he dared talk back to the redhead or not.

"Don't worry.", his eyes found K12's as the knight smiled reassuringly at him, "I'll look after her for you while you go talk to them.."

Natsu just nodded mutely before slowly getting up and walking over to the group waiting patiently for him, silently staring at them as he awaited their queries.

K06 exuded calmness as he started slowly, "Don't worry. You can be at ease. We just want to ask you a few questions. As long as you believe you haven't done anything wrong, you're clear. Am I understood Mr..."

"Natsu. Natsu Dragneel", the pinkette answered promptly even though voice sounded croaky.

"Ah yes. Mr. Dragneel", the knight nodded to himself as if he remembered, "Fire mage, right?"

Natsu felt a weight on his shoulder, his body immediately tensing up before relaxing the next second when he felt fur brush against his cheek; his exceed partner's silent gesture of telling him he had his back, even though the feline wasn't there with him when everything had went downhill.

Focusing on the situation at hand, Natsu only nodded not bothering to correct the man that he was a Dragon Slayer, too numb to even think about anything, his mind still on the blonde. He didn't like the situation he was in. He didn't like the air he was breathing, too thick..too cold... too gray.. making goosebumps rise on his skin even though he wielded fire. And the way he behaved right now, it befuddled himself of all people.

"Well..", K06 continued, pulling the pinkette out of his dull reverie, " Can you tell us how.. your friend over there.. Got all those wounds on her..?", the man's voice was slow, picking his words carefully as if he was treading on dangerous territory.

K06's gaze flitted over to his purple-haired partner, who was giving first aid treatment to the blonde – an injection for healing easy wounds and bruises - before landing on the men who a laid unconscious a little ways behind the man, and nodded in their direction, "And under what.. Circumstances did you meet them?"

Natsu foreseen these questions but he wasn't prepared on how he would respond to them since this was law enforcement he was answering to. He had to be careful. The situation was fragile. A slight mistake and he could be behind bars underground.

He took a moment to gather his thoughts, a feat that was difficult for him since he never thought anything before action, but given the incidents that lead him here, he felt he needed to think before answering.

Sensing the pinkette's distress, K06 decided to ease him into it as he started for him, "Your friend here..", he gestured over to Erza, "told me the events till, when you all split off from the Giant Wheel. She also tells me that those two guys tried to attack you", he jerked a thumb in the general direction of the two unknown men on the ground as he continued, "and.. you and your friend took them down? Am I correct?"

Natsu swallowed thickly, his throat still dry from not using it for long, his gaze flitting over to the blonde for a second before looking back at K06 and spoke slowly, "Yeah.."

"Any particular reason as to why they would want to attack you two? Have you or friend met them before.. today?"

Natsu gave a meek shake of his head, "No"

K06 hummed in thought, his eyes wandering over to the limp men on the ground, "I see.."

Turning his head over to his brown-haired partner, he asked, "K23, would you mind frisking them?", his gaze flitted over to the bodies, "I'm not sure about the man in black but my gut tells me that the man in our uniform is an imposter.."

K23 gave a brisk nod, "On it.", with two long strides he was kneeling besides the men, his white gloved hands fishing through their pockets.

Turning his attention back to Natsu, K06 continued, "How did your friend get those.. wounds?"

'That's what I would also like to know officer..', the thought made his mood sour, his pink brows furrowing a sliver as his mouth thinned bitterly, his gaze falling to the ground. He would keep that question for later when the girl is fully awake, but right now.. his attention shifted back up to K06.. He was at a loss for words. How the hell was he going to answer?

From the corner of his eyes he could see that everyone was trying as far as they could to lean in closer so as to hear his answer for that one particular question.

His jaws tightened slightly as his gaze went back to the blonde again. Hell of a situation he chose to pull himself into. 'Ugh..', he inwardly rolled his at his misery. His lips pursed. Already his guildmates have proven that they haven't believed that the blonde was his girlfriend. His gaze lingered on her pale face as he breathed out slowly, 'Might as well come clean..' ,although he was sure he would hear a earful from Erza when the situation calmed.

Natsu looked at K06, his face devoid of emotions as he answered, "I'm not sure. Sorry."

The corners of Gray's lips turned down into a frown as he stared at Natsu, 'And he says she's his girlfriend."

K06 shook his head slightly, his eyes narrowing slightly, clearly confused, "I'm sorry, but I thought you were in a romantic relationship with her.", his gaze went to Erza and back to Natsu, "Or have I misundersto-"

"Uh..K06? We've got a situation.."

All heads turned towards the voice to find K23 looking up at the silver-head who replied immediately, "What is it K23?"

The brunette's eyes momentarily flitted down to the man in black before looking back up at K06 again, a contraption that looked similar to lollipop in his gloved hand as held the head which was white in color on the man's forehead.

What he said next had the fire mage's blood running cold.

"This one's not breathing."

The pinkette felt as though someone had punched him in the gut and poured ice cold lead down his throat and spread throughout his entire body, his features turning stiff cold as his breath hitched in his throat. The crowd behind them broke out into another wave of whispers and murmurs.

K06 seemed equally flustered as he forced himself to answer, "Wha-Are you sure, K23? Did you che-"

"Yes, I checked his pulse too K06, just to make sure.", K23's lips tightened into a thin line, before looking over to K12 who had his back turned to him as he examined the blonde's hand which was caked in almost dried blood, but the brunette knew his partner had heard it all, his voice sounding as if he was unsure about it himself, "K12.."

The man snapped his head around to look at his partner with raised brows seeing K12 gesturing over to the men in front of him, "Would you.."

The brunette needn't complete his sentence as the K12 immediately nodded a 'Sure', gently laying the blonde's hand on her stomach before standing up, the brunette taking his place next to blonde as K12 strode over and crouched down in front of the man in black, his eyes raking over the man's form as his gloved hand went up to his neck.

Gray watched as an expression similar to that K23 crossed his features, his lips thinning before looking up at the silver-head beside him and shook his head somberly, "And he didn't die quickly too.", K12 turned away to examine the body more, signaling it was end of discussion. For now..

"Shit..", K06 breathed out, clearly shaken, his hand coming up to rake through his silver locks, before directing his attention to a pale Natsu who had his lips slackened slightly, the pinkette not able to think clearly, a million thoughts swarming in head endlessly.

"Mr. Dragneel."

Natsu slowly turned his attention towards a stern-faced K06, "You said he was the one who tried to attack you right?"

Natsu couldn't even find it in himself to form words and hence resorted to nodding in reply and K06 continued, "And your friend was the one who blocked it?"

Natsu forced out a hum, albeit shaky, yet resolute.

K06 seemed troubled, looking like he was having a tough time trying to form his next question that had the pinkette's heart drop into his stomach, the knight's voice coming out slowly, "Uh, I'm not accusing your friend of anything but did you by any chance see any weapon on her?"

Natsu what the knight was implying at, his breathing coming out short as he stared at K06.

True he knew the girl only for maybe an hour. But he was there with her at the shrine and walked together with her when they got out of the shrine.. Till here.. And from what he could see, the girl wouldn't go to such lengths as to take a life.. And not like that anyway. Why would she torture the guy anyway.. Then could it be that she knew him before..?

His lower lip pursed in a little, his mind going back to the time when she saved him from the man in black, going so far as to blocking the dagger with her own bare hand.. Then at the shrine.. The way she held onto his hands. The way she looked terrified..

'But..', his jaws loosened, his mind going back to the moment he stumbled upon her. His heart thumped hard against his chest when he saw himself at gunpoint again.. The blonde had held the rifle as if she had used it countless times before.. As if it was a part of her..

His eyes drifted back to the blonde..

Now he was not even sure anymore. He wanted to believe that she didn't.. That she wouldn't take a life.. The pinkette swallowed, finding it too hard to do just that...

He took in a deep breath as he tried to recall the events. He was so sure he didn't see any weapon on her-

His eyes widened.

Wait.

'The gun!'

His eyes roamed over her form trying to figure out.

Where the hell was it? It was there when they were in the temple before the monk appeared. Before she changed attire- Wait.. Her clothes!

His brows furrowed in concentration.

His mind flashed to the golden crest of the Royal Knights embellished on her shoulder. His breath hitched. Was that a disguise then..? So, was she a criminal then?

If she was.. then..

He inwardly shook his head. She didn't have the gun on her when they performed the ceremony. Nor did she have it on her when they left temple.

But then.. That light after she pushed him away on the ground. She could have..

His brows furrowed even more..

'But..'

He would have heard the gunshots since he had such sensitive hearing.

He gazed at the blonde some more, the girl vulnerable and helpless, before his eyes momentarily flitted over to the man in black and back to her.

But..

His forehead was damp with cold sweat by now, his breathing harsh and ragged as he looked at the ground distracted.

All these thoughts were too much for him.

Just what in the hell was going on here?!

He closed his eyes, his lips thin and face mirroring pain as he tried to calm his breathing, his mind going back to scene where he was sliding back on the ground. Him shocked to see blood dripping to the cobblestoned ground as the blonde gripped onto the dagger that was meant for him, her grip tightening when the man didn't back down. Him covering his eyes when light engulfed her and the man..

He squeezed his eyes, his jaws clenching in pure anger.

He didn't even want to go there. He didn't want to believe that she would go that far.. No..

 _'No..'_

 ** _"A-And forever stay by your side."_**

 ** _"For better,"_**

 ** _"Or for worse."_**

Her soft voice echoed through his mind, his mind flashing back to the moment they had joined hands when she said her vows.

He could still remember how frightened she looked when they were caught up in that hurricane storm.

 ** _"Don't you dare let go!"_**

 ** _"We'll get through this together, Okay?!"_**

 ** _"Together."_**

The way her hand gripped onto his tightly, determined.

And then, what about when she saved him from this guy?

 _ **"That's because he is one of them. Watch out!"**_

His beat wildly in his chest, his thoughts running haywire, 'No!'

"Natsu!"

Onyx eyes snapped open, his gaze snapping over to Erza who had her hands on his shoulders, apparently trying to shake him out of his thoughts.

His breathing was ragged, his pink bangs stuck to his forehead like second skin as he slouched forward.

What the hell was wrong with him?!

'Why the h-!'

Scorching heat suddenly seared through his right hand and Natsu's lips inwardly curled into a silent snarl as he jerked away from Erza, biting his tongue from crying out in pain before he started jerking his hand as if to relieve the pain.

"Natsu, are you alright?

The redhead's voice fell on deaf ears, his mind starting to race with a million thoughts.

Why the hell was he suddenly intolerant to heat of all things?!

After some shaking and waving the heat, his breathing started to slow down as he lifted his right hand, only to widen in shock.

"What the.."

The words unknowingly slipped past his lips but he didn't care if the others heard him or not.

He had concluded that the heat was due to the magic that was associated with the ring and must have been foreign for him to bear.. But..

Onyx eyes stared at his right hand, that stood bare.

 _'Where the hell did the ring go?!'_

He stared at it for sometime, as if it would magically appear at his will, confusion swirling in his head like a typhoon.

A though occurred to him as his gaze snapped over to blonde on the ground.

But before he could take a step towards her, he was however held in place by a strong hand that he didn't notice was placed back there on his shoulder again, preventing him from finding out his answer. Immediately, his lips curled inward into a snarl wheeling back around to lash out on whoever dared interrupt him only to stop abruptly when he met with Erza's stern gaze.

His temper immediately simmered down, but only slightly, taking a deep breath to calm himself.

"Mr. Dragneel."

His attention snapped towards K06 who seemed to be waiting for his reply to whatever question he had asked him.

"I'm sorry. Could you repeat your question?", Natsu found himself asking before he could stop.

"It's okay. I asked if your friend had any weapon her. It can be something very small. Maybe a penknife or a.. needle perhaps..?"

Even though the pinkette was confused as to why the man was asking about a needle being the cause-of-death weapon he found himself shaking his head nonetheless, confident that he remembered the blonde carrying neither of them. Not that he ever saw or could recall the woman having one on her..

Natsu shook his head both out of self-loathing as well as for not being able to establish strong ground for believing her. He wanted to believe her but.. he had known the girl for about what, only two? Three hours max? And they are now bonded for life? His right hand twitched, his thumb rubbing unconsciously against where his ring should have been on the ring finger.

The silver-head nodded tersely, his eyes drifting to the ground as his brows drew in further, before breathing out heavily through his nose a moment later, looking very much troubled by his thoughts. As if he remembered something, he suddenly snapped his head back up to look at Erza, "Everyone in your group accounted for?"

Gray answered for her, "Actually, we had met up with two of your kind a while ago.."

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _Night had merely started to make its appearance with the onset of the very few stars which fought to make themselves known through the misty gaps provided by the orange clouds of the evening sky._

 _Narrowed blue eyes narrowed, sweeping over the crowd which had started to thin. Gray's lips thinned slightly as he watched the shopkeepers close down their booths, worry thick in the air as the hubbub started to die down noticeably. Parents were having a tough time dragging their toddlers who refused to leave, wanting to stay a little longer, but for the older adults safety came over everything else._

 _The ice mage tuned his attention to listen for the parade that had started over the other block before he had drifted over to where he was now. He was so sure he could hear the parade a moment ago.._

 _"Did the carnival close down already?", Lisanna voiced out the question that had been nagging inside the ice mage's head._

 _"I thought it went till midnight..?", a sober Cana wondered._

 _"Maybe they did evacuate the people like they said..?", Mira tried to answer but ended in a question since she was also unsure._

 _Erza shook her head, her eyes forward as she scanned the area in hopes of finding something that would help back up her answer, "Not possible. Last I heard from them, they had the situation under control and that the carnival would go till midnight as planned. So evacuation is out of the picture.", she shook her head again as if she was trying to convince herself, "They wouldn't unless a critical emergency came up."_

 _"Maybe an emergency came up after that?", Levy looked to Erza with her brows raised in doubt._

 _Erza shook her head again firmly, "Negative. We all have radios comms. They would have informed us then if they did. They said they would inform us if something like that happened.", Erza raised up her device for emphasis._

 _Mira hummed as her gaze wandered around the town square, her brows furrowing in thought._

 _Midnight blue eyes made a careful sweep of the area as the ice mage tried to find any trace salmon pink color for his frienemy._

 _"MAN!"_

 _Gray cringed, his lips twitching down slightly in irritation at the loudness of the voice._

 _"Do you have to scream at every manly thing you see?", Macao twisted his little finger inside his ear for effect._

 _Wakaba chuckled beside him, his cigar propped between his teeth as it slanted to the side as he grinned, "Everything is manly for the guy."_

 _Gray allowed himself a silent snort, his eyes still scavenging the crowd._

 _The group had met up in the center of the town square on Erza's orders over the lacrima-powered radio transmitters issued to the group by the knights just before they had dispersed hours earlier. Fortunately, the ice mage was lucky enough to stumble upon the group there since he, like the pinkette, was too hyped up about the bet they had made, that he had forgotten to wait till the group had dispersed to receive a walkie-talkie of his own._

 _Wonder what flame-ass's got..', Gray's eyes wandered up to the sky for a brief moment, the weight of the scroll now feeling heavy inside the pockets of his capris._

 _Speaking of which..._

 _His eyes drifted over to Erza who was walking a little ways from him to his right, silent and brooding. He still hadn't told her of the scroll yet. He didn't want to panic the others by doing so, nor did he want to say it out loud since he suspected there might be ears listening in on them from everywhere. He had decided once they had made it back to where the knights were stationed, he would reveal it. But only after they had found the pinkette , of course._

 _'Goddammit Natsu! Where the hell are you?', his attention shifted back over to the crowd, his teeth gritting in irritation._

 _Everyone had reported their findings as soon as they had met. So far, nothing was looking up. Now they were waiting for the pinkette's input and they would be well on their way to where the knights said they had set up._

 _"Hey!"_

 _The group turned to look towards the sound to find two knights, dressed in black and violet uniforms, making their way over to them._

 _"What are you folks still doing here?", one of the knights sporting light green hair reaching till his neck, looked them over as he spoke, "The carnival has been shutdown-"_

 _"We are from Fairy Tail, officers.", Erza cut in, obviously tired from the long evening to hear his reprimand._

 _Recognition flashed in his brown eyes as the knight let out a sigh._

 _"What?", Gray cut in, too impatient to wait for the knight's reply, his face morphed into confusion as he asked, "The carnival's shutdown? Why? How come we weren't informed?"_

 _"So something did happen. Didn't it?", Levy was too curious as she too voiced out._

 _The guild members fell into hushed whispers as they all looked to the knight for an answer._

 _The knight was taken aback by the sudden flurry of queries thrown at him, doubt marring his features as he stared at them, obviously having a hard time trying to decide where to start from._

 _Erza stepped forward, raising her armored hand holding her radio comm, "Officer. A while ago only, one of your men had informed us that the carnival will go as planned and that the situation was under control. Then how come suddenly you two appear out of nowhere, saying the carnival is being closed down?"_

 _"Uh, when was this?", the knight next to the green haired one spoke up, curiosity clear on his face._

 _"Approximately 49 minutes and 22 seconds ago."_

 _Gray resisted the urge to sweat-drop at Erza's approximate reply before frowning when he caught the two knights throw each other a sideways glance, an action they thought was subtle, their features foreboding._

 _"Did something happen?", the words slipped past his lips before he could prevent them._

 _Both men snapped their eyes towards Gray before the green haired one immediately scrambled to reply, "Nothing!", his voice was too loud that it even surprised him, straightening up as he tried to look as nonchalant as possible, his tone normal, "Nothing happened. We've got it all-!"_

 _Static crackled in the air startling everyone, the green haired knight scrambling to fish out the source seemingly lodged inside the pockets of his pants._

 _The device was already emitting an electronic whistle as soon as it was out of its confines before a voice a came out of it._

 _"All units! Come in all units! Reported 5-8 is now a 5-1. Requesting 5-01 immediately to 15th Corner. Come in all units!"_

 _The two knights immediately snapped their head to throw each other a glance before the green-haired knight immediately tapped on the screen, "This is K4 responding to distress call. Requesting 5-E on the scene, over!"_

 _"Officer K4, what is your 5-10?"_

 _"12th Corner with K7, over! Dispatch, why the hell is 5-8 now 5-1?", the knight, K4's expression was grim as he spoke into the device._

 _"We have a hostage situation. 21-year old white-haired female reported 5-8, spotted at 15th Corner. Two officers are already on the scene. Current 5-E on the scene- three rogues, armed. Explosives detected, location and type unknown. One officer down. No other civilians involved. All Rune Knights have been notified and en route with ETA 1hour."_

 _The green-haired knight clenched his jaws in frustration, "Dispatch, that still doesn't explain why the situation is a 5-1 instead of a 5-5. Who the hell is that girl?!"_

 _There is a pause on the radio before the woman on the other side answers, as if it was a secret she was not supposed to reveal, "Misuki Akatashi."_

 _His partner let out a surprised grunt, "Wha-!"_

 _The screen lit up with a picture of a girl with white hair, resembling Lisanna at a fleeting glance, all smiles and innocent._

 _Mira's lips tightened, her heart thudding rather painfully against her ribs. When she came to the carnival with her family, she never knew she would be in this situation._

 _"What is your ETA, K4?", the woman from the device voiced out._

 _K4 was grim, letting out a sigh before he responded, "12 minutes.."_

 _"Report your 5-E on arrival. Dispatch out"_

 _K4's eyes flitted over to his partner beside him before he spoke into his device, his voice distant, "K4 over and out.", the device blanked out at the statement._

 _"What's this about a kidnapping?"_

 _The knights were startled out of their wits, suddenly remembering that they had company as they turned their attention towards Gray._

 _"Kidnapping?!", Levy gasped, her eyes on Gray whose attention was still trained on the uniformed men in the front._

 _The knights looked like they were about to deny the situation._

 _"5-8 is Kidnapping..", Gray spoke up surprising the knights with his knowledge as he stared back at them, "5-E, story on the scene and..", the ice mage let out a breath through his nose as he glanced at Levy who stared at him shock, "5-1 and 5-5 are hostage situations, but on different levels"., his eyes darted back to the still wide-eyed knights, gaze stern as if he was answering a silent question that only he could hear being screamed in their minds, "Yes, I know a thing or two about cop talk. So don't try and deny it. And as long as Fairy Tail is involved, you better start talking.", his statement left no room for negations._

 _The ice mage wasn't one for behaving disrespectfully to The Law since he knew he could be thrown into jail for even looking at them in disdain, but if the same Law got his family involved in a mess, never intending to get them out, then he was not one to just stand and stare._

 _"Since you are the ones who requested for our assistance, we deserve to be kept in the loop as well, officers.", Erza's voice was stern as she stared at the two officers who had now gone pale, "So, why is the carnival being evacuated? And what is this about a kidnapping?"_

 _K4 lowered his head with a sigh through his lips before looking back up after a moment of contemplation, his expression distraught, "An hour back, a fireworks booth that was set up for the midnight ceremony had gotten out of control; cause unknown. Casualties reported, but none too major. In the confusion, a girl was reported missing-"_

 _"Then, how come you concluded it as kidnapping?", Gray pushed._

 _"Agent K4. What's your 5-E?", no one had noticed the device light up, the voice blaring out of it startling everyone out of their wits._

 _K4 sighed tiredly before lifting the device to his lips, "We're still en route. 5-E in T minus 7 minutes."_

 _"Roger that." , the device blanked out with a crackle._

 _The man lowered his device before looking up at the group who waiting for his answers, a pleading look crossing his face, "Look. We will all explain to you once the situation has calmed down. Just-Just go to the meeting point and-!"_

 _"We still got one missing from our group, and we won't go without him.", Erza cut in with no room for rejection._

 _The knight nodded grimly, his lips pursing, "Fine then. Find him fast, and go to the Main Exit as fast as possible. It's not safe to stay around here anymore. We've already got more on our hands than we've asked for."_

 _"I'll come with you."_

 _Everyone turned to look at the voice to see Elfman pushing his way through the group to the front, his face stern as ever._

 _Levy gasped, "Elfman! You can't ju-!"_

 _"Sir! Please go with your group.", K4 cut in,"You cannot-!"_

 _"I can and will!", Elfman's yelled over them, his expression resolute as ever as he stared down at the knight._

 _"Elfman.."_

 _The white-haired man snapped around at the sound of the voice, to find his oldest sister looking at him apprehensively, with the youngest sister staring at him from next to her, silently pleading for him not go while all the other guild members looked at him incredulously._

 _"Are you serious man?!", Gray sounded exasperated, not wanting to make the situation worse._

 _Elfman threw him a glance before looking back at Mira again, "Mira-nee.. I need to go.. I..", the man was clearly lost for words, looking torn. He let out a breath through his nose as he lowered his head, shoulders drooping before lifting his head up again after a moment to gaze at his sister as he spoke, his eyes momentarily flitting over to Lisanna and back, "That girl.. She.. She looks like our Lis.. I.. I wanna help her. Her parents.. They must-They must be worried as hell."_

 _Mira didn't reply as she stared at him silently, her lips drawn in to keep them from quivering._

 _Gray stood there silent as he watched Elfman, remorse painted all over the man's face. He recognized that look he wore.. He always wore it whenever he was reminded of the past that happened years ago. A nightmare the three siblings had worked hard to get over, with the support of each other as well from Fairy Tail. The face of the girl that displayed on the knight's screen must have triggered that memory in the Beast Soul mage._

 _Gray's fist clenched at his side, his lips thinning as he stared at the bulky man with mild irritation... But, the past is past. Everything is over now. Seeing that girl's face and being reminded of it, doesn't mean that he could just go and jump into the fray so that his sins would be forgiven._

 _"Do you hear what you're saying?!", Gray's voice was low and forbidding._

 _Elfman sighed softly as he turned to look at the simmering ice mage. A soft smile crossed his face as his eyes glistened slightly surprising Gray. The Beast Soul mage, even though tough on the outside, he was always a sensitive hunk on the inside. Elfman's voice was thick yet soft as he struggled to speak, "I need to go Gray.."_

 _Gray drew in a sharp breath, feeling helpless as he tried to reason with him, "Elf-"_

 _"Go Elfman.."_

 _Elfman's eyes widened as he snapped his head around to look at Mira, an adoring smile on her face as she looked at him, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears, "Promise me you'll come back.."_

 _The lump that had formed in his throat was too painful for him to swallow, his lips tightening as he tried to hold back a sob, his smile tearful as he shakily nodded, "I promise, Nee-chan.. Take care of our Lis for me while I'm gone..", he turned around, not wanting to see the single tear that slipped down his older sister's pale cheek, scared that it would break his resolve, only to snap out of it when he saw the uniformed men shutting their wide open mouths with an audible click of their jaws, obviously defeated on seeing that the bulky man was not taking no for an answer, "Let's go officers."_

 _Behind him, Lisanna looked like she was about to cry as she opened her mouth to tell her brother not to go, but a hand on her arm distracted her, blue eyes snapping to her left to see Mira shaking her head at her, her grip unconsciously tightening, having a hard time herself. The younger girl's hand raised up to place it gently over the hand that gripped her as she turned her gaze back to her brother watching him as he listened to the knights brief him, pixie-cut girl parting her lips to let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in._

 _They came this far.. There's no telling what lies in store for them._

 _'But for now...', Lisanna's thoughts trailed off, her thumb brushing over her sister's hand that still held onto her... They will protect each other. She will be her Nee-chan's shoulder and she hers.._

 _Her blue eyes glistened in the low light of the setting sun that peeked through the clouds afar as the younger sister watched her brother who was now nodding brusquely as the knights spoke to him._

 _Lisanna swallowed before the lump in her throat became too painful._

 _And together they will support him wherever he may go.._

 _"I'm coming with you, Elfman."_

 _All heads turned, seeing Warren already in front of the group making his way towards the bulky man, "Someone needs to help keep in touch. You never know when these things fail.", he lifted his lacrima walkie-talkie, his brows raised with a small smile._

 _Elfman smiled back, nodding his thanks._

 _"I'm coming too!", Max looked brave, his lips pursed, hugging his broom to his chest as he walked over to stand next to Warren who patted his back with grin._

 _"Hey, wait up!", Alzack stumbled out of the crowd, "I'm coming with you guys!", he threw a smirk, twirling his gun around his index finger by the trigger guard, "You need a sharp eye to watch out for snipers. Never know from where those fuckers open fire."_

 _Elfman smiled while Warren smirked as he nodded, "Thanks man..", he clapped the gun mage's back._

 _"Then I'm going too!"_

 _The men turned to see Bisca who started trudging her way towards them, face determined._

 _"Woah! Hold on there!", K4 jumped in, his arms held towards her to prevent her moving forward, surprising the woman as well as the men behind him._

 _Bisca protested, "Me and Alzack are a team! He nee-"_

 _K4 shook his head solemnly, "I'm sorry miss, but you can't come with us."_

 _"Huh? Why not?!", Alzack was the one who responded from behind the knight._

 _K4 turned towards Alzack, "I'm sorry sir, your friend can't come. Those men already have a girl as a hostage. And that too.. Her age..", the man immediately turned around to regard Bisca, eyes wide, "It's not that you can't handle yourself! We know you will do just fine. But.. We just.. Don't want to have another case if it happens and repent it for the rest of our lives. I'm sorry."_

 _Bisca looked like sombre as she stared at him. K4 tried again, his voice pleading, "Please Miss.."_

 _"I'll be fine Bisca.."_

 _The woman's eyes darted towards the voice to see Alzack smiling reassuringly at her._

 _Bisca finally drew in a sharp breath , her eyes falling to the ground as she nodded, albeit shaky, her lips thinning slightly._

 _A hand rested on her shoulder and Bisca looked to her side to see Erza beside her as she stared at the men, her face devoid of any emotions, "You four have your lacrima comms with you right?", she questioned, her voice domineering._

 _The men stood at attention as if they were subordinates reporting to their superior officer, as they nodded brusquely, face stern as well, "Yes ma'am!"_

 _Erza nodded, "Good. If something happens, let us know immediately."_

 _"Yes ma'am!"_

 _The gun mage's eyes softened at the redhead beside her. Even though her face appeared neutral, she knew the re-quip mage didn't want to let them go. But she couldn't. She wouldn't. That was not in her books. Not in Fairy Tail's blood._

 _The corners of her lips turned up ever so slightly as she looked back towards the men who were talking amongst themselves in seriousness, preparing themselves. Her eyes landed on Alazack who talked and nodded animatedly, brows furrowed in concentration as he listened to his partners as well as the knights as they discussed among themselves._

 _Feeling eyes on him, Alzack suddenly whips his head around, eyes wide, landing on the green-haired woman who was watching him with a soft smile. Even from far he could see the woman's eyes glistening. A soft smile tugged at his lips as he shakes his head at her, subtle enough to go unnoticed by the others, as he made a silent promise in his mind, 'Be strong. I'll be back..'_

 _Bisca's eyes widened slightly, swallowing thickly to fight back her emotions as her thinned lips quiver before her own shaky smile resurfaces her face as throws back a subtle nod of her own, words echoing in her mind, 'Stay safe, you..'_

 _As if on cue, their eyes fall wide open in surprise before snapping their gazes to Alzack's right, a dark red hue settling over their cheeks as Warren greets them with an adoring smile stretching across his face, his arms akimbo, "You two sooooo need to confess."_

 _Steam wafted off his burning red face as Alzack started to stutter, "W-Warren! Why did you-!"_

 _The telepathy mage only raised his brows, sarcasm clearly written on his face, "Eh? What do you take me for? Stupid?"_

 _A pink Bisca and the others watched as Alzack frowned, growling childishly as Warren straightened up, letting out a silent snort, "Come on Captain Obvious, we're moving..", he strode over to the still flustered gun mage to drag him over to the group who had bid their goodbyes and had started to leave with the knights, a chuckling Max lightly whacking Warren on the head as he fell into step with him and the rest along with a blubbering gun mage._

 _Gray stood silent as he watched the group's receding figures, momentarily landing on Warren who put a finger to his chin and looked up in thought, the last of his words echoing in the distance, "Maybe Captain Oblivious is much more suitable.." The ice mage sighed softly once they were out of sight._

 _'Stay safe guys..'_

 _"Gray. We need to go!"_

 _Erza's voice snapped him out of his reverie, whipping around at the hastiness in her voice just in time a see a soft white light fading out over the barrack of buildings situated a few blocks away, his mouth slackening slightly in surprise before the disturbance of the group behind him finally caught his attention, his comrades obviously surprised by the light themselves. He stood still listening for any distant shots or bombs which could explain the light but heard none._

 _Next to him, Erza's stern gaze was on the region where there light had appeared, calculating her way towards it before her boots clacked against the cobbled path as she started her make her way in the direction opposite to that take by Elfman's party, towards the direction of the light._

 _One half of Gray hoped that they would find the fire dragon slayer there, while his other half hoped otherwise, since the bright white light was always from a powerful spell which the ice mage knew wasn't Natsu's since his spell was always accompanied by some kind of 'boom', the ice mage hoping that his frienemy was somewhere safe._

 _"Alright people! Let's move it!"_

 _Gray's gaze still lingered on the buildings where the light had disappeared, his lips thinning slightly before letting loose a sigh and turning to follow the red-head._

 _'I better find you in one piece so I can kick your ass, you stupid Flame-retard..' ._

 _._

 _._

 _._

K06 hummed in thought before asking, "And have you gotten any updates from them yet?"

Gray shook his head silently.

"How long ago was this exactly?"

"34 minutes and 17 seconds.", Erza cut in.

Gray held back the urge to roll his eyes, a groan lodged at the back of his throat as he inwardly shook his head, the corners of his lips turning down, 'Do you have to every single time, Erza..?'

"Hmm, I see..", K06 nodded with a hum, his gaze drifting to the ground, his silver brows furrowed in thought and lips thin in trepidation, his eyes flitting left and right as he tried to figure out his next move.

The man suddenly fished out his own device from the pockets of his pants before tapping on the screen which lit to life, muttering lowly to himself, "A 5-1 situation huh.."

Gray watched him, anticipation biting at his nerves, his mind going to how others might be doing now. His blue eyes glimmered when the screen suddenly transitioned to a page in blue with lines depicting the street view as a whole with small dots littering all over.

"Let me check if I can find any communication chain pinned on that case. They might have already have it under the wraps by now..", K06 dragged his thumb panning the map to find relevant dot pinned for the particular case.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw K12, who was still crouched near the man in black, examining his wounds, suddenly lean back, his face sickly pale, the ice mage snapping his head towards him just in time to see the knight pull up the black cloth that covered the unconscious man's mouth. Gray watched as his attention suddenly shift over to the blood covered knife that lay to the side, a little a ways from where his brunette was currently crouched near the blonde, before scrambling to crawl over to it and pick it up by its relatively clean handle with a white cloth he produced out of his pockets.

Meanwhile next to Gray, Natsu stood silent, his mind flashing between different scenarios that had happened till now. Him at the guild with the others enjoying a sunny day, all of them pushing and shoving each other into the metro to get the best seats in the coach, his green-faced self being knocked out by Erza with an innocent Gray looking away not wanting to be a witness to scene at all, him and Gray competing each other at whatever games they set their sights on..

The pinkette abruptly drew in a sharp breath... Him at the temple, at gunpoint.. The rings..

If only he could turn back time, he would have just knocked Warren out for even suggesting to come here and took up Gramp's offer to go lounge out in the guild's pool..

A high pitched metallic clack resounded throughout and a chill suddenly washed over him, the pinkette too stiff to even lift his head up to look up at the clock tower again. His breath came out heavy and shaky again as he remained motionless. He did not want to admit that he was scared to move. Why he was scared.. He himself didn't know.. He felt that if he so much as turned his head, something would happen. And he did not want to see that or let it happen just because he had turned his head.

He just wanted time to stay as it was..

Suddenly, his lips parted, all his senses returning to him..

'What the..'

His heart thumped loudly.

What in the world was happening to him?

His eyes wandered over to the group beside him. No one seemed to be experiencing what he was feeling now, nor had they realized the change in his demeanor.

"K23! What's the status on that MedCraft?"

The sudden shout that broke through had everyone turn their heads to the right to see K12, who had long ago taken his place back next to the blonde, pull out a thin white band from within a pouch he had strapped to his belt while his other hand held onto the blonde's wrist as he checked her pulse.

K23 stood behind him, furiously tapping away on his device, "I had fired the Blue Signal when you guys were in the middle of interrogation. Should've been here by now..", he frowned at his screen, the intensity of his tapping increasing in frustration, "Dammit! I can't find their location. Let me fire one more-"

"No time!", K12 interrupted, "Alert the Sec Meds and set up a Code Red beacon track. We need to move! And get me Sec Defs while you're at it!", he hurriedly clipped the white band around the blonde's wrist securely, the band immediately coming to life, yellow and green in alternation.

K23 blanched, "Sec Defs?! K12! Why the hell do yo-"

"Why a MedCraft?", Gray yelled over K23.

"Huh?". K06 turned towards an annoyed looking Gray who had his arms crossed across his chest as he asked, "Where are your ambulances? Why wait for a MedCraft to finish its rounds?"

"Uh.. The ambulance services had to be temporarily shut down.", K06 looked away from Gray.

"And may I ask why?", the raven-haired mage asked irritated.

K06 looked back at him sternly, "We are not at liberty to discuss with anyone."

The ice mage gritted his teeth, "Why th-"

"Four bars!", the purple-head's voice broke through, his attention on the white band that lit up with four bars, red to yellow. Tugging on the band gently to make sure it was secured, K12 immediately stood up and turned towards K23, "Did you alert the Sec Meds.", the question was more of an order.

K23 furrowed his brows in response, "What- Why? I've already alerted the MedCraf-"

"Just do it!", K12 snapped.

K23 didn't answer as he went back to staring at the white circular device which went on displaying data and graphs, tapping on it intermittently while K12 pulled a white pistol from his holster.

A hand landed on his shoulder and K12 whipped around with a scowl, preparing to yell at whoever dare distract him, only to catch himself.

"What's going on K12?", K06 looked at him, equally intimidated.

K12's voice was low and grim, "Her temperature's getting cold and her skin's turning. And..", his gaze flitted down over to the man in black for a moment before coming up to regard his partner, his face pale, "There's something el-"

"What do you mean by her skin's turning?", K06 was too alarmed to hear what K12 was about to say next, his eyes frantically raking over the blonde as if he would find his answer there before darting up to meet K12's, "Couldn't it be beca-"

"Wait!", Mira who was at the front of the crowd made her way towards them.

"Natsu is a fire mage.", Mira continued as she reached them, "He can help warm her up until the MedCraft arri-"

She broke off when K12 shook his head briskly, "No. It won't do any good."

Her brows raised as she replied, "Eh? But, if her temperat-"

"Why do you think her body is getting cold even with this warm, humid temperature we are experiencing?", K06 cut in, his features tensed.

"Oh", was all Mira said, her brows furrowed slightly, feeling slightly foolish for having neglected that small detail, 'I didn't think it in that way..'

The air was indeed mellow and muggy, leaving their skin sticky and clothes drenched in sweat.

"It's a sign of magical exhaustion."

Everyone turned to look at a very grim-faced Levy, her brown eyes mirroring worry and anxiety for the injured blonde as she continued, "Its different for different magic types.", the bookworm glanced at to Mira, "So even if we try to keep her warm, unless the level of magic in her Magical Container is over the minimal required point for revival, it's no use. And since magic for a mage is life itself, going below minimal point means death."

"Exactly", K06 nodded, "The body temperature of a person drops below that of the atmosphere, no matter how hot it is-"

"That is not the case and we don't have much time!"

Everyone jumped at K12's outburst.

K06 opened his mouth, about to question K12 who had his attention trained on his own lacrima device.

"Shit! Guys, the signal just blanked out!", K23 suddenly yelled out, holding up his device, the map on it now blank, devoid of the dots and radial lines.

K12 clenched his jaws, his eyes shifting to the side as he muttered, "Thought so.."

He immediately pulled out a white capsule the size of a thumb from his pouch, before slamming it into the butt of his white rifle, the device whistling to life as he pulled at the tail end of its barrel backward before it recoiled to the front, green bars suddenly appearing on it and climbing to the front, giving off a double bleep signaling its ready status.

Lining the lacrima device which now showed a map with a dot on it in his other hand behind the gun which he pointed up into the air, K12 spoke into the contraption.

"Code Peril!"

The gun let out another resounding whistle and the green bars suddenly turned red.

"Attach coordinates.", K12 spoke into his cell and the device blinked, a thin white circle radially closing in on the blinking red dot on the map on the screen, before it disappeared, the red bars on the gun barrel blinking twice before a lock sounded.

K12 lowered the device to his side, holding the gun up as he looked away, his eyes squeezing shut.

"Firing in 3,2,1."

With another mechanical bleep, a loud blast sounded, everyone squeezing their eyes shut at the explosion, following a sharp whoosh. Blinking their eyes open, their jaws parted in awe as bright red light illuminated the area before white smoke encompassed them effectively blinding everyone, a red ball of light blaring through the mist as it rocketed up at lightning speed before bursting in the sky into a series of miniscule sparkling red missiles which shot off into various directions to their assigned destinations.

Everyone followed their gazes at the miniscule bullets that dispersed in awe yet anxiety.

"Okay people! Move it now!"

Everyone snapped out of their dazes, attention shifting back down on K12 who had holstered his gun before crouching next to the blonde again.

"K12.."

The said man glanced back up to K06 who looked distraught, his eyes silently pleading for his partner to give him an explanation.

K12 stood back up, casting a fleeting glance to the side before drifting back to regard his partner, "I'm sorry, K06. I'll explain everything to you on the way. But right now-"

"Mm.. What's that-What's that smell..?"

The pinkette frowned as his eyes darted around the group, mulling over why he wasn't the first to sense the smell before them owing to his slayer nose, the thought dissolving into mush as soon as the scent entered his nose, the voices around him dying down as his eyes fluttering shut.

His eyes started to droop against his will and his brows immediately scrunched inward at the involuntary action, irritation starting to eat at him again at not knowing what the hell was happening to him.

His mouth ran dry and it seemed like he suddenly lost his voice.

The thump of his heart that echoed in his ears was slow yet it seemed to shake the very core of his being, keeping him wide awake.

Another metallic clack echoed throughout, his ears twitching in annoyance and yet the cold trepidation that filled his entire being was enough for him to keep him in place.

Every dull hazy sound that rang around him, every color that his eyes lazily swept over, every whisper of a wind that feathered his sweaty cold skin..

Everything was making him dizzy.

He could hear everything that happened inside his body. He could hear his slow labored breaths. He could hear every ripple his heart made as it pumped blood into him each time.

He wanted to shout out loud.. To let out his annoyance.. His distress.. Everything that he was feeling.. He wanted to let it out...

And yet his mouth wasn't even opening at his will. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth as if he was born like that.

His face twisted in annoyance, eyes scrunching up in sheer distress at his inability to help himself.

And the metallic clack that resounded intermittently wasn't helping his condition any better.

It was really making his head swim, his sensitive ears ringing endlessly.

His head snapped to the side in hopes of avoiding the sound, 'What the hell is that?!'

And again, that same scent assaulted his nose.

He tilted up his head and unconsciously began to sniff, his eyes unconsciously drooping shut as a low hum rumbled in his chest, the sound forgotten.

The corner of his lips tugged up slightly, his features starting to relax a little.

The smell was soothing.

'Fire.. So..warm..'

His nose was up in the air, whipping left and right as he tried to pinpoint the source, his movement albeit appearing drunk and uncoordinated. His eyelids felt like cold lead, the coolness of the skin delightful against his eyes as they drooped against his own will, but he fought to blink them open.

Clack!

His head whipped around, pink brows scrunching up as he forced to keep his drooping eyes a sliver open, his head titled up, willing his eyes to roam left and right in search of the source before freezing on the blurry image of the Town Clock Tower that stood tall, proudly overlooking the town. His eyes stood fixated on the gigantic structure, as if it was the one thing that prevented his gaze from straying away from it. He stared at the large hand that stood against the white dial of the clock, almost at the fifth Roman numeral.

The alluring scent forgotten, the pinkette not knowing how long stood there motionless like that, with his head titled up so as to get a better view through the gap between his heavy lids which he kept open with all his might, the fire mage on the verge of falling asleep any moment if he let his eyes close.

Clack!

As if on command, his eyes fell wide open and his heart thumped rather loudly in his chest, his whole frame thrumming along before dark cold fear started to grip at him, keeping his whole body frozen. His lips parted as his breath hitched in his throat, another thump echoing from his heart.

Despite the fear that gripped his body, the pinkette felt like he was completed detached from it, and yet he could feel everything that happened to it, but he didn't care for that. All he cared for was the imposing tower that stood afar, his eyes following the large second hand as it neared the twelfth Roman numeral.. Nearing the end of another minute.

His breath stopped as soon as the second hand did a touchdown at the head of the dial.

Clack!

The minute hand slid to rest a minute away from the tenth numeral, the resounding sound that echoed from it, resounding loudly in his ears.

The next moment found the pinkette drawing in a sharp breath as his mind went blank, a flurry of images flashing before his eyes.

 _Ginormous white dial of a clock, a glimpse of the minute hand away from the top stationed to the left.._

 _._

 _._

 _The back of a hooded figure in dark, the ends of the cloak fluttering ever so lightly in a wind that was not present._

 _._

 _._

 _The shrill scream of a woman ringing throughout the air as embers flew up from the raging fire that blazed all around the debris of buildings unrecognizable, shrouded in thick black smoke._

 _._

 _._

 _The Town Clock Tower... The small hour hand already at six, and yet... the large hand was still before twelve..._

 _._

 _._

The pinkette let out a sharp gasp, onyx eyes roaming around in panic, as his heart raged in his chest, going miles per second, as he panted harshly.

His eyes watered as his throat ran dry, his body now drenched in cold sweat as he slouched forward a little, 'What in fucking hell was that?!'

His ears rang as he tried to calm his beating heart, his mind registering his surroundings as he squinted through his pink bangs that stuck to his drenched forehead, his eyes roaming over his guild members, the knights, Gray, Erza, Happy.. Lu-

He suppressed a yelp, letting out a hiss when his right hand ring finger burned again at the junction where the ornament was supposed to be, his head snapping towards his hand with a scowl etched on his face as gritted his teeth in pure vexation while he frantically waved the appendage in an attempt to cool it down.

'Where the fuck did that damn ring go?!'

If it wasn't on him, then why the hell was his hand burning like he never wielded fire in his life.

Suddenly his eyes widened, snapping his head towards the blonde that lay on the ground beside K12 and K06.

'The ring!'

"Naw.. I think... I think its.. It's booze!"

His eyes darted over to Cana who swayed left and right, trying to maintain her balance, a lazy smile on her face.

The pinkette frowned. Since when did Cana get drunk.. Everyone knew she never got drunk out of her wits unless if it was for competition.. Which was out of the picture here..

A giggle sounded and Natsu darted his eyes over to Lisanna who slapped a hand over Cana's back, before leaning on her, "Oh Cana. Is that all you can think of? It's not booze silly. It's-"

The pinkette jolted in his place, a blush threatening to adorn his cheeks when Lisanna suddenly buried her face into Cana's dark brown hair splayed on her shoulder, her arms immediately wrapping around the still smiling card mage's shoulders as she let out a loud contented sigh. Cana let out a loud laugh as she brought up a hand to lazily pat the Take Over mage's back prompting the girl to nuzzle her face even deeper.

Somewhere during the scene, his jaws had slackened, pure surprise coloring his tan face, stunned that the white-haired girl had chosen the card mage for satiating her cuddling needs, since the brunette was notorious for her….touchy-feely behavior.

Out of the corner of his eyes he spotted Mira standing there still. The strange behavior drew his attention over to her, jolting in his place when he saw the wide smile that was stretched across her face, her hands loosely clasped in front of her, resting below her stomach.

He watched with wide eyes, too intimidated to move, as the white-haired woman leaned her head back, her chest expanding slowly as she took in a deep whiff causing Natsu to shiver, watching as her white locks fluttered in the soft breeze that brushed past her, her dress billowing gently in the wind that had started gather around her frame.

The pinkette let out a startled squawk when a dark violet magic circle suddenly appeared underneath her and before he knew it, he found himself staring at the girl whom he knew back when he joined the guild.. Gone was the softness to her features, the air of cheeriness that had always surrounded Fairy Tail's resident barmaid now replaced by a daring yet mischievous aura that exuded from the busty white-haired woman donning a dark gothic-looking attire which consisted of a black skimpy sleeveless shirt paired up with black leather shorts held up by a studded metallic buckle that resembled a demon with thigh-high stiletto heeled boots that did well to show off her pale skinned legs.

Unaware that he was holding in his breath, Natsu watched as the she-devil slowly turned her head around, her high ponytail held by a large black ribbon swishing behind her frame elegantly as her dark orbs raked the scene as if searching for her prey, dark mischief coloring her face, the smirk she wore, enough to scare the Council Knights back to their headquarters. Her eyes froze on a point that the pinkette could not make out, her smirk widening a sliver as she slowly maneuvered her way through the confused crowd of guildmates, each clack of her heel against the cobblestoned path causing Natsu's heart to thud heavier and heavier.

"Oh God..", the words had slipped his lips involuntarily, as the pale-faced fire mage helplessly watched Fairy Tail's old tomboy Mira saunter towards the re-quip mage who had sometime earlier made her way amongst the guild members, her back to the transformed barmaid with her arms akimbo.

"Oh boy.."

Natsu jolted in his place at Happy's voice, having forgotten that the feline had perched upon his shoulder earlier, the action not going unnoticed by the exceed who had snapped his head to look at his partner with mild confusion since the fire dragon slayer, although infamous for forgetting names and faces except for scents, was always alert of his surroundings.

The feline set it aside for later, deciding not to upset his partner any further at the moment since the pinkette was obviously distracted, the exceed summoning his wings after making a mental note to question him later as he took off from the fire mage's shoulder, keeping his eyes still trained on the pinkette whose attention had long ago turned away from him. Happy followed his gaze before the furs on his body bristled, his jaw falling open to let out a squawk.

The white-haired demon had raised her hand, about to place on the unaware Titania's armored shoulder, the pinkette jumping in his place when Erza suddenly whirled around to face the she-demon, her face stern as ever. However, the sword mage seemed to see through the woman as if she was an invisible entity, sniffing indignantly, "I smell laziness..", the corners of the red-haired woman turned down into a frown as she extended her left armored hand to her side, light suddenly gathering in her palm at her silent command before morphing into a long sword, her hand curling around its black hilt with a practiced grip as she walked past the white-haired demon.

Erza froze mid-step when Mira stood in her way, the smirk still on the white-haired mage's face, her voice soft yet taunting, "Ah Erza.. It's been long since we've had a duel.", Mira's eyes raked down the redhead's body slowly, her arms coming to cross across her busty chest as she finished with a short silent chuckle, "Let's see who is worthy to be crowned the Queen of Fairy Tail, shall we?"

"It's the smell of old parchment paper..", Natsu snapped his head towards Levy who sighed a little ways from him, a soft adoring smile on her face, her chin tilted up as she tried to sniff more, the bookworm looking forlorn like one who missed home after having been away for a decade.

Natsu's jaw slackened as his eyes roamed around to take in the condition of the rest of his guildmates, 'What in the world is happening here..?'

"Are you kidding? It's obviously ice."

The confident voice pulled the fire mage's attention towards Gray whose face looked serene, yet his posture exuded confidence as he had his arms crossed across his chest, seemingly happy to be in his type of climate. Natsu had to hold back a scoff as he eyed the ice mage who seemed to have a soft glow about him as light mist emanated from his figure.

While he watched Gray, a frantic Happy suddenly flew past in front of the ice mage with a surprised cry, shuttling towards Lisanna and Cana to separate them as the girls were by now practically choking each other with their hugs, neither of them in their right minds to even realize they were strangling each other, causing Gray to suddenly shoot a dirty look at the feline.

"Do not disturb me when I'm-"

"How the hell do you even smell ice man!", Macao guffawed before resuming to sniff, "Nah.. It's someth-"

"It's cigars from Crocus..", Wakaba groaned in needy, "Ugh.. I miss those babies.."

His guildmates were all spouting gibberish and Natsu's forehead creased, his head lowering, helplessness eating at him.

'Oh god.. Please make it stop..'

"Ho..?"

His head snapped towards the low sinister voice and his eyes widened with dread.

There stood Erza, her sword in her hand and her gaze towards the ground.

Natsu followed her gaze and his lips parted to breathe in sharply.

K12 who was silently observing the state of the guildmates whipped his head around when he heard Erza behind him before letting out a surprised grunt of his own when the redhead's face overshadowed under her bangs, twisted sinisterly as she lifted her right boot-clad foot to nudge the bloody unconscious blonde on the ground.

"Hey..", her tone was so low and promising punishment that even the purple haired knight flinched, as the redhead went on prodding the blonde again with her foot, "Why the hell are you sleeping, hmm?"

Seeing the blonde unresponsive, the armored mage lowered her head slightly, muttering lowly, "When someone talks to you, it is proper manner for you to respond back..", she raised her sword so that it was hovering above the blonde, pointing at her face, K12 going pale at the action as he demanded, "Hey, you need to snap out of it!"

Letting out a loud battle cry, Erza raised her sword above her head.

K12 let out a shout of surprise as he lurched towards the blonde, thrusting his hand towards his baton clipped to his hip by the belt, but suddenly caught himself at the last moment.

He watched with wide eyes as Erza's face twisted in pure vexation, gritting her teeth as she tried to put force into her right armored hand that wielded her sword that was stuck raised to her shoulder level, before she tried to shake her arms, trying to break free of the tanned hand that gripped her from doing so.

"That's enough, Erza.."

Onyx eyes narrowed at her brown ones, teetering on the borderline of narrowing into slits, his voice low with warning as Natsu tightened his grip on her arm, the heat from his skin climbing up unconsciously.

"Let.. go.", her voice was strained as she gritted out, trying to overpower Natsu, his black sandal clad feet sliding just a sliver at her force, before the redhead changed tactics, reeling back her other armored hand to her side and curling into a fist before bringing it forward to aim a punch at his face, but the pinkette caught it in his steaming left hand in the nick of time, before snarling out, "I said.. That's enough!", with a yell, the simmering fire mage shoved her back, far enough to give him time to establish proper guard in front of the limp blonde, squaring his shoulders, preparing for another attack.

"You dare question my actions?", the redhead glowered at Natsu with an air of dominance about her while the pinkette remained silent as he watched her carefully. He was on full alert now, his ears sharp as he listened to his surroundings. The redhead was not the only problem at hand, the fire mage concluding from his observation of the current situation that the others can also turn on him at any moment.

His silence seemed to have spurred her on, as Erza straightened up with a silent chuckle in indignation, her stern gaze still trained on the pinkette as she lowered her sword which dissolved in a shimmer, before a red magic circle materialized under her as she challenged, "Let me show you what happens when you go against the Queen of Fairies."

His eyes widened as his lips curled inward into a snarl, "What the hell is wrong with you?! Snap out of it!", he leaned forward, planting his feet firmly into the ground as he prepared to lurch forward to pin her down to stop her from going further with her requiping spell.

Suddenly the redhead gasped startling the pinkette, her eyes widening in shock as her body arched back slightly in pain before abruptly falling to her knees, the magic circle disappearing as fast as it had come, the light diminishing along with it.

A wide-eyed Natsu stared in apprehension at Erza who was on her hands and knees in the middle of a huge coughing fit, her scarlet hair curtaining her face.

"Sorry.."

Natsu snapped his gaze up to see K12 behind a still crumpled Erza as he eyed her warily, his hand midway in the air holding a thin metallic cylinder that resembled a pen, its long shimmering needle almost invisible if it weren't the light that reflected off of it.

The knight let out a breath as he lowered the cylinder, Natsu not able to take his gaze off it as he asked K12, out of breath, "What the hell happened?"

His gaze on Erza was still wary, the armored mage's coughs which by now had reduced to heavy panting as K12 answered, "Three Stages of Puppetry."

Natsu's eyes snapped up towards K12 whose attention wasn't on him, gaze rapidly sweeping around at the rest of the guild members who were still in their own world, his brows furrowing in confusion as the fire mage asked back, "What?"

K12 snapped his attention back to Natsu before looking down at the blonde, "There's no time. I will explain it to you on the way to the hospital.", his voice was urgent as he locked gazes with Natsu, "Wait here with her!"

Natsu nodded brusquely, kneeling next to the blonde, while K12 strode towards a confused pale-faced K06 as he pulled out another slim cylinder from a grey pouch he produced from the small purse clipped to his belt, yanking the silver-head's hand towards him which snapped the man's attention on him as the purple-head thrust the needle into his hand, "Here. Administer this to everyone."

K06 looked down to the delicate looking cylinder in his open gloved palm before looking up to respond to K12 but he was already on his way towards the rest of the guildmates.

"What about me? I'll also hel-"

"Were you able to get the Sec Defs on?", K12 cut in, his features screaming jittery as he awaited the brunette's reply.

K23 deflated, his voice coming out meek looking like he was preparing himself to hear a scolding from K12, "No-"

"Then keep trying!", K12 barked out before making his way towards the still frenzied group, K06 following close behind.

Natsu watched as the pair rushed around his and the other guild mates, pricking their necks with the needles with little or more difficulty, one by one the members abruptly stopping whatever shenanigans they were creating as if their power switch was turned off, before falling to their knees as if they were newborns.

"Why am I on the ground..?"

His gaze darted down to the source to find Erza who was now resting her weight on her knees, her face surprised as she blinked and looked around her before looking back up at him before stumbling to get up, "What the hell happened?", her legs were still slightly shaky as she tried to regain her footing.

Natsu contemplated whether to tell the redhead about how he went up against her for a girl, who he knew for only an hour and yet somehow got married to her..

"Natsu!", Erza snapped, clearly irritated at his silence, the said mage flinching at her tone as he stared at her, opening his mouth which suddenly felt dry as if someone had poured sand into it as no voice came out.

"Titania.."

Erza immediately whirled around at her pet name, finding herself face to face with Mira, her brows raising in surprise on seeing the woman dressed in her old attire as she stood in front of her before she smirked in challenge at the still wide-eyed redhead, "Let's have that battle shall we?"

Erza's jaw slackened, still shocked at her change, her voice breathy, "Mira.."

She took a step back when Mira took a step toward her, her armored hand extending to her right to summon her sword which reappeared in a burst of light while she quickly snapped her head to look at Natsu in alarm, whipping her head forward again to regard the demoness before taking another step back when Mira neared her again, "What the hell is happening, Natsu?! Why the hell is Mir-!"

Her eyes widened when the demoness winced suddenly, a small whimper escaping her throat as head tilted to the side slightly before falling to her knees, her figure engulfing in violet shimmers before disappearing, leaving a disgruntled Mira, dressed in her normal maroon summer dress, panting heavily on her hands and knees.

K12 strode passed Mira as if nothing happened, his eyes making a careful scan of the group to make sure he didn't miss anyone else, "I think that's the last of them..", he turned his head to regard K06 who reached him, "If we don't get them out of here, we won't be able to do anything when the Second Stage happens.."

K06's eyes widened slightly, opening his mouth to ask but K12 cut him off as if he already knew what he was about to ask, "No. We were given those shots remember? Before we were dispatched from the precinct?"

The silver head closed his mouth, nodding silently before turning around to regard the group once more, the members now one by one slowly coming to their wits as they stumbled to their feet, confusion marring their faces as they tried to recollect what had happened moments before.

K23 tapped on the purple-head's shoulder, "I see some of our green pins bleeping nearby.", he shook his device screen as he continued, "You guys wait right here while I go check. If they have a vehicle with them then we can take her and the others to the hospice ASAP.", he jerked his thumb behind him in the general direction of where the blonde was lying unconscious on the ground.

K12's lips tightened, keeping silent for a second as if pondering over something before giving a terse nod, "Yeah, go ahead.."

"Will ping you shortly!", K23 replied, making his way to the end of the block, K12's eyes staying trained on him as he watched him sideways, his features tensed.

As soon as the brunette was out of sight, the knight swiftly turned around to face Natsu, his voice slightly low yet urgent as if someone might hear him, "Right. We need to get your friend out of here befo-"

"Hey…", Cana's low muggy voice broke through, the knights, Natsu, Mira and Erza turning to regard her, but the brunette's sleepy attention was somewhere behind them as she lifted a lazy hand to point ahead, "That was what you guys were crying about?"

Everyone whipped their heads around to look at what the card mage was pointing at, Natsu, too busy to mind the sudden weight on his shoulder as Happy lightly landed on his shoulder again, as his jaws loosened along with his widening eyes.

Over a couple of miles away in the sky, a shadow, the shape of a craft appeared amongst the dark clouds, its wings concealed by the condensed water vapors.

Both knights squinted their eyes to get a better look at the craft, K06 muttering low, "I can't see the serial number on it.. Can you K12?"

K12 hummed lowly, mimicking K06 as he tried to scan the craft.

"That's not an M-Craft."

Natsu's attention darted to his side to see Gray standing next to him, finally out of his daze from before, his expression serious as he observed the craft "It's not even remotely close to an M-Craft", he muttered low sounding distracted, before he abruptly fished out his lacrima cellphone from the pocket of his pants, tapping on the screen before holding it up against the sky.

"Gray. It's obviously a MedCraft responding to the distress signal.", Cana waved a hand over the approaching carrier before crossing her arms over her chest.

"No..", Gray replied distractedly, playing with screen of his device.

The pinkette craned his head over the ice mage's shoulder, trying to get a peek at his screen to see the enlarged image of the crafter captured by the camera that was turned on in his device, as the raven-haired mage slightly moved his device left and right so that he could get some kind of sign that would help him prove his previous statement.

"Why didn't I think of that..?", K12 looked surprised as he realized what Gray was doing before fishing out his own device, K06 peeking into his screen as his partner activated his camera as well.

"See? You can clearly see the plus sign on that craft.", a slender hand appeared from Gray's other side, over his left shoulder, as Mira appeared beside him, her gaze on the screen.

"Where?", Gray's brow furrowed.

"Right there.. See?", Mira hovered her finger on the screen, gesturing over the portion where a red mark now materialized as the fog cleared up.

"W-We need to go now!", K12's voice broke through, thrusting his device into his pockets, hurriedly zipping up his pouch on his belt, before pushing past K06 towards Natsu, his face pale as he breathed shakily.

"K12, what is wrong?!", K06 asked frantically as he followed after his partner, "Isn't that an M-Craft?"

K12 didn't reply, his features shaken as he knelt next to the blonde and lifted her wrist on which the white band was clipped, the last of the two green bars now blinking.

"What the-!", Gray suddenly let out a surprised grunt, before reeling back to look at K12, his voice loud and demanding, "Would you mind explaining why the hell there is a freaking Weapons Carrier flying over a small harbor town?!"

"Gray.", Erza's tone was reprimanding, "What are you going on about?"

Gray swiveled around to face the red head, his voice stern yet low as if trying to warn her, "Erza", his hand shot out to point towards the crafter which was now a few blocks away, "That is a weapons carrier gunner craft, Raptor, used for Nuclear wars."

"What..?", her voice sounded detached as Erza's jaw slackened. Her face went deathly pale as her eyes unconsciously wandered over to the crafter, as the armored mage stood rooted to the spot as she relived a past that haunted her.

"Gray.", Mira voiced out, her eyes still trained on the ice mage's device in her hand, "Are you sure it's not a plus?", she looked at him, "You know.. Plus for medical.."

"No Mira..", Gray shook his head, hurrying over to her as he gestured over the screen, "It's inscribed on a rotating dial, see?"

Gray took the device from, tapped on it to capture the image, pinching on the screen to expand it before showing it to white haired mage again, "See..?", he circled his index finger over the image, "C-X6"

Mira let out a low 'Ah..'

"C-X6?!"

The device was grabbed out of Mira's hands, K12 glaring into the screen before he fisted his left gloved hand and place it over his mouth in exasperation, "Shit.."

He numbly thrusted the device back to Mira who caught in nick of time, before shakily tapping at his own device, K06 letting out a relieved sigh oblivious of the fear running through K12.

"That's even more great. I thought that craft was halfway to the next town hospital by now.", K06 smiled at K12, "K12, We could flag them dow-"

"That is not great K06! In fact it's the opposite of great!", K12 cried out before snapping his gaze to Natsu, "Can you carry her?", Natsu immediately nodded, swiftly turning around to kneel beside the blonde to scoop her in his arms, Happy jumping down to help his partner, as K12 abruptly snapped his head towards his partner in confusion, "Wait.. What do you mean halfway to Croc-! Did you see this craft earlier today?!"

K06 nodded innocently, "Yeah! A couple of hours into the carnival actually. Right around the time when all hell broke loose.", the man tilted his head up as if recalling the earlier events, "We had a lot of casualties and we were informed that even the nearest hospitals were full. Luckily Fiorean Council were gracious enough to dispatch us this baby..", he gestured over to the craft, now around few hundred yards away, its size gigantic enough to bring a tremor to the fire mage's heart as he stared at it when he got back up again with the blonde secure in his arms.

K12's lips thinned, curling inwards before dragging his gloved palm again over his mouth, his gaze on the ground as if he would find his answer there, K06 furrowing his brows in worry at his partner's odd behavior, "What is it K12.. Now that the Council is here, shouldn't we be less worried?"

There was a long pause, the air thick and condensed with eerie silence sans for the murmurs and hush hush from the guild members surrounding them, waiting for K12's response.

The purple-haired knight turned around to look at K06, his voice slow, "K06.. C-X6 was bombed down eleven years back.. Around the time the Great Cold War took place.."

K06 went deathly pale at this, his jaw dropping open as he reeled back, "Wha-what..?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but is it me or are those extensions on that thing just for show off?", Cana raised an irritated brow as she stared at the nearing crafter.

Everyone followed the brunette's gaze.

Gray's jaws dropped and so did other's.

Natsu who followed their gazes a moment later suddenly froze, his breath hitching in his throat.

About a couple of yards away floated the ginormous crafter, the 'extensions' now fully out, the metal canons and barrels shimmering in the faint light that had managed to seep through the dense dark clouds, the crafter seemingly armed and ready.

"What in the name of-!", K06 stepped forward as he eyed the crafter before swiveling back to look at K12, "K12! How the hell is thing here?!"

K12 didn't know how to respond as he stared up at the crafter, trying to figure out his next move.

Suddenly his eyes widened and he fished out his device back out of the pockets before tapping furiously on the screen.

K06 seemed confused at his partner's behavior, "K12. What are y-"

A bleep sounded before a female mechanical voice sounded out from the device.

'Trying to establish radio communication with C-X6. Standby..'

They watched as the screen blinked rapidly, a radar appearing around a blinking orange dot which Gray guessed was the crafter.

A high pitched bleep sounded.

'Connection established successfully.'

"Wait.. K12 what are you doing..?", K06 hissed as he gripped his partner's shoulder.

"Couldn't hurt trying..", K12 wasted no time in pressing the side button, before holding the device near his mouth, "C-X6. This is the Demesne Ranger Council. Requesting to identify yourselves. Over."

Everyone watched with bated breaths, in hopes that the crafter would respond through the device.

Heartbeats echoed in ears again as his breath became heavy, the periodical low clack of the Town Clock Tower suddenly sending him pale. 'Not again..'

Cold sweat lined his brows, his vision starting to blur and Natsu blinked rapidly, trying to clear up the haziness.

And as soon as it came, it disappeared. His vision was clear once again. The crafter still taking up half of the scene before him as it floated in all its proud glory a little ways from them in the sky.

Suddenly an optical crosshair, fluorescent green in color, conjured in front of what they guessed it to be the cockpit of the crafter, before a series of miniscule red dots appeared on it.

K06 immediately took a step back in surprise, "K12. Is it doing what I think it's doing?!"

"Shit!", K12 growled, gripping the device tighter in gloved hand.

"C-X6! This is the Demesne Council Knights. We have civilians on the ground. I repeat, we have civilians on the ground. Do not open fire. I repeat. Do not open fire!. Over!

His vision blurred again and the pinkette rapidly shook his head.

"Watch out!"

Natsu didn't have time to breath as he felt arms wrap around slightly, his body forced to the right suddenly before feeling a vice grip on his left shoulder and right arm.

He didn't know when he had squeezed his eyes shut, but when he squinted them open, they fell open wide, his jaws slackening, on seeing K12's purple head a breath's apart from his face before the man himself shakily lifted his head.

K12's eyes were slightly narrowed in pain, his left eye wincing when he locked gazes with Natsu as he breathed harshly.

Natsu stood rooted to the spot, his mind blank yet having a firm grip on the blonde in his arms, as if making sure she was still with him, as K12 took in shaky breath, his voice coming out feeble yet forced.

"P-Please.. Keep her safe..", Natsu's eyes widened slightly when the knight shakily placed a hand on the blonde's thigh covered by her top, feeling for her pockets before hastily pushing his device into her pocket and sealing it shut, as he lowly mumbled out for only Natsu to hear, "When I give the signal, run straight for the tower.", he nodded behind him towards the clock tower, "The-The response team will meet up with you, along with the Emergency Medical Team. When they do, ask _specifically_ for-", K12 paused to swallow thickly, cringing in pain as he did so, sucking in a deep breath, before continuing, "-for Head of the EMT, Doctor June and give this to the doc and no one else. The doc will know what to do.", his eyes drifted down and tapped over the pocket, a loose gesture of making sure it was safely pocketed. The knight abruptly froze, his hand immediately going over to the band clipped on her wrist, the sight of the fourth green bar that had started to blink causing him to tense, before his gaze snapped to the pinkette's, tapping gently on the blonde's wrist-band "And..One more thing. As soon as the last bar is reached, she will go into shock and die.."

His heart dropped in his chest, breath forgotten as K12 forcibly swallowed before panting again, painfully turning around to stand in front of Natsu as if trying to protect him.

The purple-head shakily pulled out the small white baton attached to his belt before jerking it, the baton responding by extending lengthwise in white light.

Natsu's eyes unconsciously wandered to the side to see an equally staggering K06 with a staff in his hand as well.

"K06.. Are you alright?"

Natsu's attention wandered over to K12 who was staring at the said knight.

The platinum-head looked back at him, pain clearly etched on his features, before nodding.

It was as clear as day that both of them where fighting to stay awake.

Yet, the pinkette couldn't find the cause of the knights' discomfort as his eyes roamed over their body.

His senses were numb. Cold fear coursing through him uninvited, keeping him rooted to the spot.

His jaws clenched as he willed himself to move before snapping his head to look at the others who were staring dumbly at the craft and some at the knights.

All of the members looked as if they were dolls controlled by a puppetteer.

'Three Stages of Puppetry'

K12's voice echoed inside his head, his gaze wandering slowly and carefully.

'Where's the puppeteer..?'

His body tensed, his senses on high alert. Although the mechanical part of his mind was not working properly, his thought processes were still intact.

He carefully observed the surroundings with caution.

Everyone seemed fine. No one seemed hurt. Either that, or they still were dazed to even realize what was going on.

"There wasn't a crafter the last time this happened.", he heard K06 mutter.

Natsu's brow immediately raised up in surprise, 'Last time?!'

"Pull yourself together K06.", K12's tone was urgent, "We don't want a repeat of that again. We need to get these guys out of here ASAP and get them detoxified as soon as possible. We don't have much time.", the purple-head glanced at the ground, grimacing before darting his gaze towards the guildmates.

Natsu's gaze snapped downward to see Happy also silent as he stared dumbly up at the crafter, unmoving. The pinkette opened his mouth to ask he was alright when his gaze caught on something else, his eyes widening.

'What the-!'

The cobblestoned path now glittered as if coated in a layer of thin hairline crystals as Natsu scanned the sharp semi-transparent onyx needles, the size of a mere grass blade.

K12 who was scanning the dazed guild members, clenched his teeth at the lack of response.

"All of you! Snap out of it!"

Silence.

Natsu's gaze wandered over to Gray and Erza, who were trying to squint as if their vision were blurred, acting as if they were deaf. And so was the case for all the guildmates.

"Shit! This is bad.", K12 groaned in pain as he clutched his arm.

K06 frowned at K12, "How much time do we have before Second Stage?"

"We have more time since we were already given the antidote. It's them I am worried about.", K12 diverted his attention to Fairy Tail, "We've got no choice. They will all start going under the effect any minute now. It's up to us to keep them safe and hold them back till backup arrives.", he turned to look back at K06, "They can come from anywhere. And I am not gonna just stand there and let them be turned. We need to call for backup. Hand me your Com!", K12 thrust out his hand and K06 wasted no time in fishing out the device and handing it to him.

Natsu didn't know what the hell these knights where talking about, but the mention of 'them' who the pinkette can't place only helped create a wave of cold trepidation to wash over him.

He watched as K12 started punching at the screen. His features wary yet senses on high alert as he occasionally glanced around them.

Another low clack. And the thump of his heart.

Natsu's breath shook slightly.

What the hell was wrong with him. What is that sound...?

The air was now thick and cold and Natsu couldn't shake off the tremor that raked his spine.

A double bleep caught his attention and Natsu's raised his gaze towards the knights whose attention were pinned on the device, K12 raising it to his mouth, "Seargeant Chief. Can you read me? This is K12 from North Side of the Flower Garden. Requesting for imme.."

K12's eyes rolled back into his head, slumping to the ground.

"Sorry boys. We'll take it over from here.."

Wide onyx eyes darted behind K12 just in time to see a tall blonde-haired man in black attire. Similar to the one that laid on the ground.

Natsu's jaw slackened, 'What the-!'

"Watch ou-!"

Natsu's head snapped to his right just in time to see K06 letting out a pained grunt, before he too slinked to the ground, revealing another man hand holding a weapon that looked something between a shot gun and M11 .

"This one is for the Whisperers as requested..", the man next to K12 nudged the limp purple-head over to his back with his boots.

"And this one obviously goes to the Wraiths like the others.", the raven-haired man in black chuckled lowly his eyes on K06.

Cold wave washed over him as Natsu stood frozen, his eyes taking in the scene.

Now there were 5 bodies including the blonde.

Natsu stood rooted to his spot as he watched on helplessly as the one next to K12 let out a sinister chuckle before kicking K12 so as to turn his body in order to face him, "It weren't for this fucker, we would have bagged this County Station a long time ago.", the man spat to the side.

"Meaning, he had a good teacher or role model.", the raven-haired man next to him paused abruptly before bringing up a device of his own, "30 more to go.", he tapped at the screen before suddenly directing his attention towards the still pinkette.

Natsu bristled, planting his feet firmly, bracing himself for the worst.

"May we know what you men want?"

Natsu snapped his head to the side, seeing Erza step up beside him, still up after being hit by the needles along with Gray and Mira asked lowly, warning lacing her tone, the three of them standing guard beside Natsu, ready to jump in to protect him and his girl.

The taller dark-skinned man merely smirked as he scanned the Fairy Tail members before landing on the pinkette, before abruptly looking to the side and straightening up with a mix of surprise, both the men stepping to side.

Natsu eyed them warily before his eyes fell wide open, his features going stiff and cold.

A hooded figure stood in between the silent men.

The three beside Natsu immediately froze up, Gray holding back a grunt of surprise, all of them too intimidated to move.

Natsu's eyes raked over the figure. He wasn't sure if it was his eyes playing tricks on him seeing as the figure appeared to be hovering over the ground or if mist was clouding the figures legs to create such an illusion.

"What in God's name is that..?", Gray's breathy voice cut in.

They all stiffened up when it suddenly moved forward a few paces before stopping a few feet away from the pinkette and the group behind him, silence falling upon them.

Natsu couldn't feel his heartbeats anymore, making him doubt whether he was dead or he was dreaming.

"I'm not going to ask again.", Erza gripped the sword in her right hand tighter, stance ready as she glared at the men and the hooded figure who remained unmoving, "Who are you and what do you want?"

The figure started to move slowly and Natsu's mind went blank, unable to form any coherent thought, his eyes still on the figure.

His eyes suddenly shimmered when a thin card with intricate gold runes decorating its otherwise black translucent back, lightly floated out the figure's tattered dark cloak, stopping to hover in front of it, a soft glow emanating from it a moment later.

Suddenly, a bony hand slowly appeared out of one of the torn thick dark sleeves as it rose up feebly, all fingers aligned as if in the form of a circle as the tall blonde in black appeared to stand beside the figure, his smirk deepening, his eyes trained on Natsu, "Perfect. Thank you Nea.."

Everything seemed to slow down as the man raised his device to his lips as he kept his sinister gaze on the fire mage, Natsu remaining frozen, Gray's jaws slackening, Erza following the direction where the figure was pointing at in cold trepidation while Mira gasped lowly, their gazes landing on Natsu whose heart stopped dead at the blonde man's next words...

"Target acquired."

* * *

 **Took down the AN here, since no one is interested in reading this story anymore. Or I would have gotten reviews.. And yet, here I am at 2 AM updating with a proofread.**

 **Thanks to TSG1996, Marsh07, Grimnack, vaneanime, artistofthemind for taking their time to read this chapter and review. Thanks so much guys.**

 **A special thanks to a friend (whose name I won't mention until they say it's okay) I made recently. Thanks for your wonderful PM. You literally made my day.**

 ** _Yours truly,_**

 ** _~your shady Riddler_**


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